


The Priest and the Demon

by qwaszxedc9



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, Angst, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Demon!Takao, M/M, MidoTaka-centric, Priest!Midorima, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-24 12:38:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 26,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1605494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwaszxedc9/pseuds/qwaszxedc9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Midorima Shintarou, Vice-Head of the Northern Priest division, is in need of a demon familiar. Takao Kazunari, one of the most powerful demons of Shuutoku, is seeking revenge against the green-haired priest who rendered his clan powerless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> Recently I've gone over to the Kurobasu fandom. MIDOTAKA IS FREAKING CUTE. I apologise, One Piece is still my NUMBER ONE, but I think I'm adding Kuroko no Basuke into my favourites.
> 
> Oh, and I'm adding in some of the pairings I support. That includes AoKise, KagaKuro, MuraHimu. but they'll just be side pairings with probably only hinting. Any other pairs may or may not be actual pairings. Some pairs i just placed together for convenience of the plot. If you have your own pairings in mind feel free to recommend. If I can fit it into this fic I will.
> 
> This is my FIRST TIME writing any sort of romance, so I'm gonna put it out there that there's not gonna be much (if not any) SMUT in this fic, for 2 reasons:
> 
> 1) I don't really read much SMUT (Mostly I skip it when I read M), and therefore I have no idea how to write it.
> 
> 2) I prefer ANGST, PLOT and FLUFF. Thank you. SMUT is just a bonus.
> 
> Unless one of you or one of my own friends helps me to write SMUT, there'll probably be none or just a tiny bit in here.
> 
> If I manage to learn to write SMUT(or gather enough courage to actually write it), this fic would be my guiniea pig.
> 
> Sorry to disappoint all of you SMUT lovers.
> 
> Well then, please enjoy.
> 
> (Originally posted on fanfiction.net)

Midorima marched out of his room, sliding his pale green door open and close. For priests, the wake up time was at 9am, enough time to prepare for prayers and training which started at 10am. Midorima pushed up his glasses with his right hand and checked the time. 8.28am. Right on schedule. Oha Asa will start in exactly 2mins.

Walking down the corridor, he glanced at the other doors, catching sounds of snoring from the other lazy priests. Hmph. They couldn't even be bothered to wake up early. He grasped the handle of the dining room, sliding the door open gently before closing it again. Akashi was already seated at the dining table, eating a breakfast most likely prepared by his familiars.

"Shintarou. Good morning." Akashi greeted, placing his chopsticks gently at the side and glancing at him.

"…Good morning, Akashi." Midorima replied, marching over to the television screen at the other end of the room to turn it on. Akashi watched him cross the room, picking up his chopsticks again.

"Good morning~! Our daily broadcast of Oha Asa will begin…!" Midorima walked to the cushions, sitting in seiza on the green pillow with his back straight and hands on his lap.

"And… In fourth place, Cancer! You will have a strange encounter today, so be sure to treat any strangers with kindness and compassion! Your lucky item for today is an orange tissue box!..."

Midorima breathed out, then stood up, marching back to his room to pick up his lucky item of the day from his closet. Akashi watched him leave.

"… fifth place, Scorpio!..."

* * *

After picking up his miracle orange tissue box of the day, Midorima proceeded with his standard everyday morning routine: taking a shower, then tidying up his room for whatever mess there might be, then combing his hair to one side, making sure his priest uniform is neat and tidy, replacing his taping, pushing up his glasses, then closing his room door, and walking back to the dining room. By now, it was 9.25am.

Kise was already in the dining room, munching on breakfast made by Akashi's familiars. The priest brothers Kagami and Himuro were also eating, Kagami with a disgusting mountain of food in front of him. And it seemed that Kise's familiar Aomine also wanted to join in, lazing around in the corner, staring at the television. Honestly, why would anyone decide to bond to such a lazy demon, he had no idea.

Most, if not all, priests could only have one familiar to bond to, till death did them part. The only ever known exception was Akashi, with three familiars. But then again, it was Akashi. That already explained everything. Familiars were supposed to help their priests, and yet Aomine never really helped. It was a mystery, really.

"Good morning, Midorima-kun."

Midorima nearly jumped, but didn't. Instead, his hand jumped up to push up his glasses.

"… Good morning, Kuroko." Midorima greeted, staring down at Kagami's nearly invisible familiar. If he were to be honest, he did respect Kuroko a little, due to his unorthodox fighting style of disappearing and reappearing to attack. At least this Kagami-Kuroko pair did not charge into battle blindly, unlike the Kise-Aomine pair at the other end of the room.

"Ah. Good morning, Midorima."

"Yo! Midorimacchi!"

"Oh, mornin' Midorima!"

A whole bunch of 'good mornings' were given to him from those in the room. Midorima marched up to his seat and sat down, slowly reaching over to hand himself some breakfast.

"Hmph," he said (grunted), before beginning to eat. The television channel had already been switched to some basketball tournament, Kise and Aomine rushing over and cheering at any dunks. Hmph, obviously shots from further away would be more useful, and score more points. Anyone could shoot when the hoop was so near, only the skilled could shoot from far.

"Ryouta, Daiki, come back here and finish eating." Akashi said, already done with his breakfast and now sipping tea.

"Ehhh~ Wait till the break!" Kise replied, almost whining, eyes still glued to the television.

"Tch." Aomine just continued watching the next dunk.

"Ryouta, Daiki, we have training in half an hour. If you rush to finish your food within the five minutes break between the matches, you might get indigestion." Akashi said, placing his teacup down. "So, return to your seats immediately and finish your breakfast before watching that basketball match."

"Eh~ Just wait for a bit-"

"Tch, are you a mo-"

"Ryouta, Daiki." Akashi articulated clearly, eyes glancing over to the pair lazing around in front of the television. Both priest and demon not-so-visibly flinched, before dragging themselves off the cushions, and plopping onto the dining table seat.

"And take smaller bites." Akashi added, lifting his cup again to sip his tea.

"Yes... Yes… Akashicchi," Kise said, shovelling food into his mouth. Aomine just grunted and snatched food off the table.

Midorima just continued eating, feeling his stomach bloating up uncomfortably.

"Shintarou, eat more. Two slices of bread is insufficient of a person of your size."

"Taiga, chew slowly. It would hinder your digestion if you continue shovelling food into your mouth."

"Tetsuya, you may be invisible but I can see you ate less than a slice of bread."

"Oh. You noticed."

* * *

"Takao, what should we do now?" Otsubo asked, glancing at the red scarring symbol permanently imprinted into his arm – the symbol of exorcism.

"I'm not sure. Your powers… are they really gone?" Takao asked, staring directly at his leader's arm, at the condemning symbol. Otsubo squeezed his eyes shut, holding out his palm, trying earnestly to squeeze out any spark, anything. In vain.

"Shit! It's… it's really gone…!" Otsubo clenched his teeth tightly, slamming his fist into the wall. Miyaji clenched his fists tightly, nails digging into his palm.

"Our powers!... ALL FUCKING GONE!" Miyaji shouted, glaring resentfully at the back of his hand, where another symbol was located. "SHIT SHIT SHIT!..."

"Calm down…" Kimura whispered, so softly that it might have been directed at himself. He pulled pants down, to cover up the symbol on his thigh.

"This is all because of that fucking bastard priest!" Miyaji yelled, screaming vulgarities into the air, punching the walls. Takao perked up.

"Which priest?" He asked, smiling slightly. If anything, revenge would be a tempting option.

"That bastard green fungi hair, unwanted familiar-less priest Midorima!" Miyaji yelled, still punching the walls. Takao blinked.

"Midorima? Is that the-"

"Never mind that, what's done is done." Otsubo said, standing up. "Now that I am powerless, I need someone to take over as head of Shuutoku." Takao shot up at that, waving his arms around.

"No, we don't need a new head." Takao said, shaking his head and frowning. "What we need is to get that priest to remove his exorcism symbol from you and them."

At this, the powerless trio glanced at him, eyebrow raised, Miyaji scowling deeply, the other two just frowning.

"And how do you expect to convince the shithead? His green asshole is probably as prideful as his blown up ego!" Miyaji shouted, almost growling. "He's never going to admit his mistake! And we'll probably just have to suck it up and live with it!"

"Ah, but then what if I eat him?" Takao suggested lightly, smirking at them. The trio gasped.

"E-eat him? T-that's-" Miyaji started.

"That's a crime! It breaches the treaty between the priests and the demons!" Otsubo said, frowning. "You'll be chased by priests for as long as you live!"

"But then I'll gain all his powers, and I'll be able to remove that symbol!" Takao argued, pouting.

"That's not the point! The priest's soul will be trapped in eternal agony inside you for as long as you live! The Priest Council will not take this lightly. You will be hunted down!" Otsubo shouted, clenching his teeth. Takao stared straight into his leader's eyes, before grinning softly.

"But as of now, I'm the only leader left in Shuutoku." Takao said softly, closing his eyes, before opening them again. "We will be crushed by the other clans if we just sit back and suck it up."

Takao stood up, and smirked. "Plus, right now, you can't stop me."

Before any of them could react, Takao vanished.

* * *

"Shintarou. Come." Akashi said, turning around to head toward his office. As the head of the Priest Council (youngest ever) and the head of the Northern division, Akashi was the most powerful priest with three familiars. Midorima was the vice-head of the Northern division, the head healer, as well as a seated member in the council.

Midorima followed Akashi into his office, sliding the door shut behind him, before staring at the blood red-haired priest moving over to sit behind his desk. "What is it, Akashi?"

"Shintarou, you are the vice-head of the Northern division, and a seated member of the council. As one of the more powerful priests, it would not speak well of you to not have a familiar." Akashi stated, folding his hands together. "You should attempt to bond with one of the leaders in the north, perhaps Shuutoku or Seiho."

Oha Asa did mention a strange encounter today. Was this it? This confrontation with Akashi?

"I did attempt to. But it seemed that none of the demons were willing." Midorima stated, defending himself.

* * *

_~FLASHBACK~_

* * *

"You fool, pull the rickshaw properly. We're going to be late."

"Like hell! I'm never becoming your familiar!"

* * *

"Today's lucky item is this 1m by 1.5m floral-print table. Do not drop it."

"Carry it yourself, asshole! I'm never bonding myself to you!"

* * *

"This is why you're no good. Charging in would only-"

"Fuck you!"

* * *

"Man proposes, God disposes. I am a man that proposes-"

"FUCK OFF BASTARD!"

* * *

"Murasakibara, don't eat while walking."

"…Hmph… I think I'm gonna bond with Muro-chin instead~ Muro-chin is nicer~"

* * *

_~FLASHBACK OVER~_

* * *

"They seemed to dislike me right from the beginning." Midorima stated, frowning, taped fingers curled around his tissue box. Akashi stared back at him, before frowning.

"In any case, be sure to find a strong demon befitting of your power. There is no rush, but I'm sure you understand when I say as soon as possible." Akashi said, staring straight into Midorima's eyes. Midorima stared back.

"Understood."

* * *

"Damn, I didn't think this through…" Takao said to himself, sitting on the topmost tree branch staring at the sky. How to eat a very powerful priest? Hmm….

"I should have thought this through." Takao pouted, staring at this bunny shaped cloud floating across the sky. There was no way he would be able to overpower a vice-head priest of any division; they're vice-head for a reason. Plus, even if he could, he would become too weak to escape the rest of the priests who will for sure hunt him down. So, how…?

Hmm… Why not he try to befriend the priest, make him trust him. If he remembered correctly, this priest was familiar-less. So he could offer himself up as a potential familiar, then before any bonds could be placed, stab him from behind. An excellent idea~!

He just had to make sure this Midorima didn't force any bonds on him. Priest could do that. Usually they don't, but they could. If he was bonded, it would prevent him from killing anyone the priest didn't want him to. That would ruin his plans.

Man… It's so difficult! Wasn't it supposed to be simply: he kills him, eats him, saves his leader and others, and maybe be killed by the rest of the priests who would most definitely come after him?

Yeah, that would be so simple. Life wasn't simple enough.

Now, how to make him trust this random demon that pops up out of nowhere? Showing up on his doorstep might cause this volatile priest to just exorcise him, which would ruin EVERYTHING.

So, no. showing up without any preparation was bad. Very bad. He needed to seem harmless, and helpful and yet powerful enough to be a potential familiar. Oh, and he needed to seem weak too! Then this Midorima would not be too inclined to immediately exorcise him at his doorstep.

Ahhh… So many things to consider… Just to eat one measly priest. He could just show up begging for this great Midorima's help!

Wait… Why not?

He could show up weak and injured! Any kind priest would take him in and help him!

Was this Midorima even kind?

Ah… Let's just go with that.

Takao pulled his left pants leg up, and wrapped his fingers around his thigh, concentrating until there was a light orange glow. It circled around his thigh and he could feel his power levels shrinking, until it was the level of an above average demon. A seal on his power would make him seem a little weaker, and more harmless. He'll remove it later when he wanted to kill Midorima. The glow diminished until there was only a circle of orange around his thigh.

Alright, now that his power level has shrunk, all he needed was to injure himself! Engage in self-harm!

Perhaps just throwing himself of this tree would be enough, now that his power level is only above average. Or maybe he should throw himself off this tree, then through Midorima's roof.

Hmm… That would work.

Takao stood up on the topmost branch he was at, staring down to gauge the distance. It was a near 12 metres drop. If he were still at full power, that wouldn't be much; at most a broken leg, which would heal quickly. Now at this above average power, how many bones would he break?

Only one way to find out.

Takao took a deep breath, and jumped.

Right after he figured out how many bones he could break, he had to hop through Midorima's roof.

Life was not simple enough.

* * *

Midorima sighed. It would seem his strange encounter of the day was with Akashi. Figures Oha Asa was right. His tissue box most likely warded off any unwanted bad luck.

He slowly took off his priest uniform, and put on his long sleeved orange pyjamas, folding his uniform neatly into the laundry basket, then replacing his tapings. Once done with that, he placed his pillow directly at the top-centre of the bed, unfolded the blanket, placing each corner of the blanket at the exact four corners of the bed, then folding down the top portion of the blanket.

Satisfied with his bed, he proceeded to do his nightly stretches, hand still grasping onto the tissue box. Breathing out, he reached out for his toes. After around 10mins of his stretching, he looked at the clock. Exactly 11pm. Time for bed.

Midorima reached for the clothes hook beside the door, grabbing his matching orange nightcap, and putting it on smartly. Making sure the nightcap covered his head properly, he hugged his tissue box tightly, before gently lifting up the blanket of his bed and slipping into it, right in the middle, face up, left hand hugging the tissue box, right hand at the side, legs straightened.

He has completed his night preparation, and therefore he is now ready to sleep. Reaching up to take his glasses off-

CRASSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH! TOMP!

S-something landed beside his bed. Midorima sat up quickly. Something landed beside his bed, through his roof! He looked up at the broken roof in disgust, then looked back down for the culprit.

It was a person with black hair, wearing grey robes with wings on his back. A demon.

"Argh…" the demon said, before going silent. Midorima froze, eyeing the unmoving form of the demon. There was silence.

W-what now?

"Midorimacchi! What happened?"

"Oi Midorima! What's with that loud crash?"

Midorima was jerked out of his trance by the two yelling outside his door. His door was locked obviously, so the duo outside could only scream. The demon on the floor beside his bed did not move a muscle, and Midorima was getting annoyed(worried).

He immediately got off the bed, and strolled(rushed) over to the immobile roof-destroyer, bending down beside him to poke(check if he's alright) him.

"OI! MIDORIMA! WHAT HAPPENED?!" Another yell came, and Midorima clicked his tongue, before marching over to the door and unlocking it, sliding it open.

"WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?" Midorima said, biting out every word. The now trio outside his room froze for a moment, then gushed with questions.

"Are you okay?"

"What's with that loud noise?"

"Midorimacchi, what-"

"SHUT UP." Midorima bit out. Kise, Aomine and Kagami immediately stopped talking, and Midorima sighed, hand still on the door.

"It would seem that a demon has fallen through Midorima-kun's roof, Kagami-kun." Kuroko stated, squatting down beside the unmoving form of the demon, staring. Midorima spun around, glaring at Kuroko. Damn that nearly invisible demon.

"A demon fell through his roof? Is he alright?" Kise asked, trying to peek over Midorima's shoulders.

"It would seem that he has a concussion." Kuroko said, standing up, dusting his pants off. "Perhaps you would like to provide medical attention, or at least bring him to the medical bay."

Midorima glanced at the unmoving form beside his bed, and frowned. "I would have to bring him to the medical bay, if not he would take up half my bedroom floor. That would be annoying." He said, pushing up his glasses.

Marching up to the demon, he reached down and carried the black-haired roof destroyer in his arms, walking out of his room and toward the medical bay.

Now he would have to waste his precious sleeping time on this unknown demon, take care of the concussion and set the – he glanced at the body he was holding – 5 broken bones, then clean him up and replace his clothes, maybe heal him just a little to accelerate his healing, and remove the unsightly bruises forming on this demon's skin.

It was so troublesome, even though he was the head healer of the Northern division. And this is the one who only just destroyed his roof! Maybe he should force this demon to repair it as payment. Yes, he should.

As Midorima walked away, the rest of them in front of his door watched him leave with the demon.

"He's gonna heal him right?"

"Yup."

"And take care of the concussion, right?"

"Yup."

"And probably clean him up and replace the dirty clothing, right?"

"Yup."

"And act really annoyed and angry while doing so, right?"

"Yup." Aomine yawned, nodding.

"Well then, I'm going back to sleep." Kise yawned and turned around, walking back to his room.

"…Erm… Let's go." Kagami said, turning around, strolling back to their room with Kuroko following behind.

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies.**

**They taste good,**

**feel good,**

**make you addicted to them**

**and encourage you to work faster.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna ask if anyone can spot how many MidoTaka hints are littered in this fic. By hints, I mean in terms of surroundings, items, etc. I did drop a lot of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima Shintarou, Vice-Head of the Northern Priest division, is in need of a demon familiar. Takao Kazunari, one of the most powerful demons of Shuutoku, is seeking revenge against the green-haired priest who rendered his clan powerless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> THANK YOU FOR WAITING SO LONG!
> 
> I'm sorry but I procrastinate quite a lot. I'm also supposed to be studying now. And sleeping.
> 
> I know this isn't the exact way to check for amnesia or brain damage, but then I'm not a doctor lol.
> 
> Beta-read by kuaispeed. She also helped with reading through my drafts and timelines and reviewing through my ideas when I first thought of this story. THANK YOU SO MUCH!
> 
> Edited as of 07/06/2015 with thanks to beta-reader kuaispeed.
> 
> ENJOY!

Takao was woozy. His head felt as if it were spinning high speed around his brain, eyes unable to open. As of right now, he couldn't pinpoint where he was. It was soft, too warm, and there was hot air breezing across his face. His head's spinning slowly calmed down-

"Oi, I know you're awake. Get up." A sharp, deep voice came from his right, sounding irritated and annoyed.

Takao groaned. Not an excellent way to wake someone up… His eyes slid open the slightly fraction and light flooded in, causing him to close them again. He heard the sound of rustling cloth as the light dimmed to a more manageable level.

Who was it?

"Urg… Wha…" Takao mumbled, trying to open his eyes again. A tall guy in white was standing far from him, at the window. In white…? A priest unform!

Suddenly he remembered what he was doing, how he had jumped from the tree and then jumped through the roof of this Vice-head Midorima's room. He’d probably broken a couple of bones, but as of now he felt no pain, and it was curious.

The priest beside the window came marching toward the bed, looking very much irritated. This priest had green hair. So  _this_  was the “great bastard green fungi hair, unwanted familiar-less priest Midorima” that Miyaji was talking about. Well, his hair was green, but it was more of a green-green than a fungi-green. Oh well, not his problem.

He also had rainbow-coloured beads hanging around his neck! Well… if he liked that sort of thing, who was he to judge.

Takao was still staring at the incoming priest as he stopped directly beside his bed and  _glared_  at him. What's he glaring for? Maybe the broken roof…? The priest sat down on a chair he didn't notice was beside the bed and pulled out a clipboard. Pushing up his glasses, he squinted at the demon in the bed.

"You. What's your name?" He asked, oh so politely. Well, two can play this game.

"Hmm…? My name? What's yours then?" Takao asked, giving his usual shit eating grin and feeling a smug sense of satisfaction at the priest’s frown.

"Your name. You had a concussion. I have to check for memory loss or brain damage." The priest stated, pushing up his glasses again. Takao blinked.

A concussion… That… wasn't part of his plan. But he could go with it. Giving his name shouldn't be a problem. He was known as Hawkeye in Shuutoku, but only the people above knew his real name. He should probably only give his last name then. Giving a priest his full name was like handing power over to them, which he obviously didn't want to.

"Oh~? Ok then, I'm Takao." He replied, still grinning away and watching the priest jot down what he just said, before looking up again and staring intently at him.

"First name?" the priest asked, and Takao felt like laughing at him. Honestly, this Midorima's a PRIEST. He should know that giving a PRIEST his full name was like letting the priest have complete control over his life. Handing over a full name was enough for any random priest to be able to force a bond. However, with half a Name, only a very powerful priest could force a bond.

Now that he thought about it, maybe it was a bad idea to give his last name, seeing as this Midorima was probably powerful enough. Damn, a bad decision. Okay, never mind, what's done is done. Midorima was still staring at him, waiting for an answer.

"Nah, I don't wanna give my full name. Aren't you a priest?" Takao replied, smirking as he shifted to sit up. Midorima seemed to contemplate that, before nodding.

"Fair enough. Now-" Midorima started, before he was interrupted, Takao waving his hands in front of his face.

"Hold it! You haven't told me your name!" Takao exclaimed, blinking at Midorima with innocent eyes. Obviously, he knows who Midorima is, but then again, Midorima doesn't know he knows. Midorima blinked and pushed up his glasses.

"Midorima Shintarou." He said, frowning at the demon's lack of tact. Takao thought for a few moments.

"Midorima… Shintarou… Hmm… Then, Shin-chan~!" he concluded, nodding his head. As far as he was concerned, calling Midorima by a nickname would certainly give a (forced) sense of camaraderie, and Midorima would for sure begin to trust him.

"S-Shin-chan?!" Midorima exclaimed, pushing up his glasses, horrified. Takao chuckled, grinning.

"It's a nickname! Shintarou is too long~, and Midorima is too formal! So, Shin-chan is perfect!" Takao explained his 'logical reasoning' for his nickname. Obviously he couldn't tell Midorima that he wanted to gain his trust then eat him, could he?

"Tch. Don't call me that." Midorima said, bringing up the clipboard again to look at it.

"Huh~? Why not, Shin-chan~?" Takao asked, grinning. Midorima 'hmph-ed' and pushed up his glasses again. (Seriously, how many times has he done that?)

"It's stupid, nodayo." He replied.

"… nodayo…?"

"Putting that aside, what is the last thing you remember?" Midorima said, looking up from the clipboard to stare at Takao again. Takao placed his hand on his chin, rubbing it.

Well, he definitely couldn't tell this priest what his latest memories were, them being him planning to eat the priest and him deciding to eat the priest. Yup, couldn't tell Midorima about his murder being planned.

"Hmm… I can't really…" Takao started, rubbing his chin in an excellent thinking act. Then he gasped. Keeping it as vague as possible, he said "Ah! Yes! I was eating with my friends!"

Midorima, on his part, looked completely uninterested. "Time? Date?"

"Time? Hm… I think it was dinner…" Takao answered, making a slight show of thinking very hard. Well, he was thinking a lot; a lot of possible bullshit scenarios to lie with.

"Date?" Midorima repeated, not sounding at all irritated. Takao scratched his head.

"Date…? I think it was 21st February..." Takao replied, making himself sound unsure and uncertain. If he was correct, today must be the 25th February, which meant that he would look as if he had amnesia – an excellent cover to avoid questions. At this, Midorima frowned.

"21st February? Today is the 25th February." Midorima stated, jotting down something on his clipboard. "Are you sure?"

Takao pretended to frown, then look surprised. "25th February?! But it was the 21st yesterday…"

"No. It's the 25th today, which means that you might have short-term amnesia from the concussion you had yesterday. You might recall your-" Takao thought it was a perfect moment to interrupt and put his plan into action. Looking like the poor memory-loss demon that had to be taken care of might not have been his original plan, but oh well, whatever goes.

"Wait, wait, wait. How did I get a concussion in the first place?" Takao asked, looking very much like a confused amnesic person. Of course, he knew that the concussion must have come from yesterday's unplanned slamming of his head against the ground when he fell through the priest's roof, but for the sake of playing his part, he had to ask.

"You… don't remember?" Midorima asked, staring at him, before pushing his glasses up. "Of course you don't, seeing as you seem to have lost your memories from now to four days ago."

"Yes, and so…?" Takao asked, looking at Midorima with as innocent as possible eyes.

"You crashed through my roof." Midorima stated, looking as irritated as if someone had ruffled his feathers. Now that is an image to behold.

"I crashed through your roof?!" Takao exclaimed, doing an excellent job of being absolutely surprised. Midorima frowned.

"Yes, you did." He said, pushing up him glasses yet again. "And once you have completely recovered, you will be fixing it."

Takao froze, then his eyes widened. "I'll be FIXING it?!" He didn't expect it to be so easy to infiltrate into the green-haired priest's life. Damn, if everything went as smoothly as it did now, he would be able to leave with Midorima in his stomach within days. Takao kept all his glee inside himself, and Midorima mistook his shout for a protest.

"You smashed through my roof. I care not for what reasons, but you will fix it." Midorima said, before standing up. "I actually wanted to question you on your reason for wasting my precious sleeping hours, but I see that it is pointless."

Takao paused. "Wait, you healed me?" Heh. This priest just healed the demon who wants his life. Oh the irony.

"Yes, I did, and I wasted my time doing it." Midorima said, pushing up his glasses again and holding it there. "Is there a problem?"

Takao grinned, and flashed Midorima a charming look. Let it be said that he knew how to bring people over to his side. "Nah~ Shin-chan's actually really nice~!"

Midorima froze, then turned away and headed for the door. "Tch, I am the head healer, it's an obligation. Rest for now. You will be fixing my roof tomorrow. It is now 5.17pm."

Takao grinned at the retreating figure, and called out, "Thanks, Shin-chan~!" Then he snuggled down into the bed. The priest didn't say anything, and just closed the door behind him. Then there was some really loud obnoxious laughter from outside, followed by a "SHUT UP!"

Takao opened his eyes wide, and allowed his hawk eyes to scan every inch of the room and outside. He was in an infirmary, no surprise there. It seemed that there were two pairs of priest-familiar duos outside his room eavesdropping, three of them laughing and giggling loudly at Midorima who looked ready to murder. The smaller nearly invisible demon seemed to be amused under his poker face.

Well, they weren't his problem for now. Midorima said that he'll be fixing the roof he broke. That means that he'll be staying for a while. It'll probably take a few days to finish fixing a roof (if he had no outside help, and it seemed likely), and then-

Wait, he's estimating it wrongly. His demon powers have been sealed. This meant his stamina has been lowered by a lot. Damn, that means… a week or two perhaps? Well, if he pulls it off well enough, he could probably leave before he fixes the roof. After eating Midorima, who the hell would care about a broken roof? He'll most likely be running for his life.

Scanning farther, he caught sight of a red-haired priest, surrounded by three familiars. Damn THREE. Oh god, wasn't the limit one only? How the hell did that guy get three?

Suddenly, it seemed as though that red-haired priest glanced at his direction, eyes flicking toward where he was looking from. Takao gasped, and immediately retreated, before the familiars caught sight of him. And he thought he was being sneaky enough. Well, the guy has three familiars; Takao would bet anything that he was crazy strong too.

Well, guess that's enough 'spying' for today. Takao snuggled into the covers, before catching sight of what he was wearing. It was a familiar's uniform, Midorima's, most likely, by the look of the symbol on left and the design around the collar. Takao raised his eyebrow. Midorima probably couldn't find any other clothes for him, and, seeing as a familiar's uniform was one-size-fits-all, had decided on giving him this.

Takao would have found it sweet if he hadn't been so disgusted by the idea of becoming the familiar of the priest who ruined his clan.

* * *

 "BWAHAHAHAHA~~!" Kise was snorting and laughing together with his dark-skinned familiar. "S-S-Shin-chan~!"

"GYAHAHAHAH!" Aomine was grasping onto Kise's shoulders to prevent himself from falling over.

"GWAHAHAHA~!" Kagami couldn't help it and collapsed onto the ground, hugging his stomach. Even Kuroko's usually expressionless face cracked into a tiny smile.

"S-SHUT UP!" Midorima shouted (shrieked), face red and clenching his teeth tightly. He narrowed his eyes, before stretching out his left hand, tiny wisps of golden aura shimmering around it. Kuroko immediately vanished together with his priest, the red-haired priest still rolling around before he disappeared. Kise and Aomine continued snorting and laughing, completely oblivious to the immediate danger.

The tiny wisps of energy turned into mini balls of golden-green light, shooting toward the dumbass duo still clinging onto each other while laughing. Every mini ball of energy stung various parts of the duo's bodies with pinpoint accuracy, the duo's laughter turning into shouts as they both rushed down the hallway, to get away from Midorima. Their speciality was short-range or hand-to-hand combat, not dodging little stinging balls of light.

Watching the dumbass duo scamper down the hallway, Midorima mused that the duo was lucky he was being really merciful and only decided to put just enough energy to make it sting. Then again, they probably wouldn't lose any brain cells over a higher energy level, seeing as they don't really have any brain cells to lose.

Midorima began to walk down the corridor, calculating the time needed to bring light, plain but nutritious food to the infirmary for that black-haired roof destroyer called Takao. The faster that demon recovers, the faster he can fix his roof, and the faster Midorima can boot him out of his care.

* * *

 Takao panted as he climbed the ladder to reach the roof. The damn priest hadn’t been kidding about forcing him to fix his roof. He had a lovely night's rest before he was unceremoniously tossed out of the infirmary bed at 5am in the morning, food shoved down his throat before being forced to fix a roof. IN THE MORNING! The sun wasn't even up yet! Why the hell was he up so early?!

Takao continued grumbling and whining in his head. His injuries were all healed to perfection. The broken bones, the concussion, even the scratch from the tree branch. He was impressed. Healing was quite the art to master. Most priests or demons could only heal injuries out of the danger zone, leaving scars and closed wounds. No wonder this ass was the head healer. Takao was one of the healers in Shuutoku as well, second to Miyaji. His hawk eyes were excellent at identifying injuries and treating them.

Although, Miyaji did say that Takao would likely surpass him, given that Takao's healing capability came from talent, while his came from hard work. Together, Miyaji and Takao could probably come close to Midorima's healing abilities. Though, with Miyaji powerless…

He blamed Midorima.

Reaching the roof, Takao pulled up the bucket of cement and bricks and what-not, placing them near the hole in the roof. Looking down, he could spot Midorima brushing his hair in his toilets, that prick. Sighing, he scooped up a bit of cement, beginning the long and annoying task of fixing the damn roof.

There'll be plenty of time to interact with the priest later. The top priority is to gain his trust, then make sure to find a safe spot to eat him up and then run for his life.

* * *

 "Shintarou, I noticed the new demon in your care." Akashi said, hands folded in this lap, staring straight at Midorima, who was seated in front of him. They were having lunch. Midorima was planning to bring some food to the roof destroyer after he had finished his own.

"Yes. His name is Takao. He destroyed my roof, and is fixing it as compensation." Midorima answered, taking a sip of tea. In the background, the dumbass duo and the rest of them had gone quiet, listening in not quite that subtly.

"I see." Akashi said, hands now folded under his chin. It was too obvious he was planning something. Midorima felt a tiny chill down his spine.

"Well, be sure that he stays in your care. I would hate to exorcise him." Akashi said, smiling slightly in Midorima's direction, before picking up his dishes, placing them in the sink and leaving the dining room.

* * *

 "Wow, this food is good! Who made it?" Takao said, gobbling up the food that Midorima brought him for lunch. They were both sitting in a bench under the shade of a tree, just a short distance away from Midorima's quarters. Midorima pushed up his glasses, huffing slightly.

"This food was made by Akashi's familiars. He dislikes the mass produced food by the cooks of headquarters, and therefore asked his familiars to cook special meals for himself and those close to him." Midorima explained, fiddling with his lucky item for the day, rainbow-coloured beads. Takao took a moment to snicker at the sight of a grown man caressing a string of rainbow coloured beads on his neck, before thinking back on what Midorima said.

"Wait, familiars? I thought a priest could only have one familiar. And who's Akashi?" Takao blurted out without thinking. He winced at his tone but Midorima didn't seem to mind.

"Akashi is the head of the Priest Council and the head of the Northern division. He has three familiars." He answered. Takao took that information in and digested it, categorising this 'Akashi' as a huge threat to his plan.

"If Akashi's the head, then who are you?" Takao asked, munching away at his food. Midorima spared a moment to scrunch his face up in disgust at the demon's table manners, before replying. He knew who Midorima was, but for the sake of looking clueless, he had to ask.

"I am the vice-head of the Northern division and the head healer." Midorima answered, pushing his glasses up. Takao already knew that, but acted surprised and in awe anyway.

"Woah, vice-head? You must be powerful! And head healer too. Thanks for healing me by the way!" Takao said, smiling brightly. Inside, he was grimacing slightly. Midorima just nodded and pushed his glasses up again.

"But of course, nanodayo," Midorima replied, huffing slightly, as if insulted that Takao might have thought otherwise. Takao couldn't help himself – the puffed-up look that Midorima was sporting, the self-satisfied look on his face, the 'nanodayo' and the rainbow beads – Takao doubled over and laughed uncontrollably, holding onto his stomach.

"W-wha- why are you laughing?!" Midorima shouted, standing up quickly, face quickly filling with colour. Takao glanced up, then continued laughing harder, all thoughts of revenge temporarily forgotten.

"Y-you look like a preening peacock!" Takao managed to squeeze out in between giggles and laughter. Midorima's face grew redder.

"S-Shut up!" Midorima stuttered, before turning even redder at the fact that he stuttered, making Takao laugh even harder at his plight. Midorima clenched his teeth, before turning on his heel and stalking off. Takao glanced up, trying to smother his laughter.

"S-Shin-chan! Don't be so upset! It was a joke!" Takao called out, chasing after the prissy priest, all the while calling out that obnoxious nickname. Midorima turned and glared at him, face entirely red and panting.

"Stop calling me that!" He shouted, before turning even redder. Takao could almost imagine smoke rising from his face.

"Don't worry, Shin-chan. It's a nice nickname!" Takao called out, running toward the priest. Midorima simply clenched his teeth and fists before pointing to the roof.

"Since you're done eating, go continue fixing my roof!" He barked out, before turning on his heel and stomping off.

"Eh? Shin-chan's so mean!" Takao wailed, before slumping forward and exaggerating his disappointed feelings and walking dejectedly back to the roof. Midorima glanced back for a moment, before stalking off back to his office twice as fast.

Unknown to them, Akashi was watching that scene play out from above. He interlocked the fingers of his hand and rested his chin on it. It would seem that this new pair might get along nicely.

Based on his intelligence reports, this 'Takao' was looking to be very similar in looks to one Hawkeye from Shuutoku. However, that seemed to be the only resemblance. Power-wise, as far as he could tell, he was at the level of an above average demon. Hawkeye, one of the most powerful in Shuutoku, had a power level comparable to his own familiars, and potentially more as he was still young.

Hawkeye had always worn a mask, as did the rest of the leaders of Shuutoku, exposing only his hair. Therefore, the only information he had on the leaders of Shuutoku were hair style, height, and physical appendages, such as wings. Those in charge of a clan did not tend to expose themselves to public anyway. They were responsible for their clan and usually only passed on the responsibility when becoming a familiar.

Even so, if he could encourage them to bond, even a simple above average demon would be helpful to Shintarou. The best case scenario would have been for Shintarou to bond with a familiar of high power levels. Although, an above average familiar should suffice.

Unfortunately, it would seem that planning a meeting with the leaders of Shuutoku might be difficult. The clan's activities had gone stagnant for the past few weeks. It would seem more prudent to organise a meeting with the leaders of Seiho instead, even if they only had two leaders of high power levels as compared to Shuutoku’s four.

Yes, he would attempt to have Shintarou bond with a powerful demon. However, this above average demon would be suitable if necessary.

Takao felt a sudden shiver down his spine.

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies**

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**feel good,**

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	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> 5.3k words. this is now the 2nd longest chapter I've ever written!
> 
> I was reading through my reviews yesterday, and there was this review on AO3 that made me squeal with happiness and joy! I couldn't help but squeeze out this chapter dedicated to him/her!
> 
> This chapter is dedicated to Yoko_Fujioka, who made my day with her comments on ao3. I spent the next 9 hours from 9pm to 6am after that writing out this chapter! (Yes, my sleep cycle is ruined)
> 
> Reviews do honestly fuel me!
> 
> Thank you for all your comments and kudos! They give me strength! *beckons to the heavens*
> 
> This chapter is un-betaed for now. Spot any mistakes? Let me know!
> 
> ENJOY!

_**This chapter dedicated to[Yoko_Fujioka](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoko_Fujioka/pseuds/Yoko_Fujioka), who graced me with such a beautiful review that I was fueled throughout the night to write this chapter.** _

* * *

 

The next three days were spent mostly on the rooftop, fixing the damn roof. Midorima had moved his bed and pajamas over to another spare room, to use while waiting for Takao to finish fixing his roof. He didn't even have the decency to pass the bucket to Takao from the ground to the roof the one time he walked by. The damn princess.

Well, at least he's bringing Takao food and drinks (they tasted good, really!) for lunch and dinner, and letting him rest once the sun set. Though, that was only after listening to Takao whining about how much a slave driver Shin-chan was being and how Takao was going to faint and collapse and die from overwork and then Takao's spirit would haunt him forever and ever and whine in his ear forever and ever.

Guess the thought of Takao haunting Midorima  _forever and ever_  was enough to convince him to let Takao rest.

Takao, on the other hand, was frantic that the roof might be fixed before he could eat Midorima. Honestly, at the pace he was going, working from dusk to dawn, the roof might be fixed within two more days! He had to make it last a little longer. Who was going to trust him enough within so few days to let him bring them to a secluded corner (which he hasn't even found yet!) to kill them?

Seriously, he should have thought through his plan a little longer.

On the bright side, he saw a couple of other priest and demon pairs, and a few un-bonded priests (and watched them carefully), living in the Northern division compounds.

There was the Kise-Aomine pair, who lazed around every day playing basketball and modelling or reading porn respectively, stealing kisses here and there and doing unmentionable things in Priest Kise's bed room (Sometimes he cursed the day his hawkeyes revealed themselves), only leaving once so far on some mission to protect some high class person somewhere.

Well, Akashi's office was out of his range of vision, so he couldn't find out what the mission was.

Kise was some supermodel, promoting priesthood and training for any humans or half-breeds interested. He received requests to model for countless magazines, so much so that he could just toss some requests aside and use them as target practice. It seemed that his popularity also encouraged many fangirls (and some fanboys) to donate to the priest scholarship fund.

Aomine had horns and a spiked tail, and was quite a famous demon from the Touou Clan. Though, he was infamous for being the lazy leader who refused to take part in any fights that involved his clan or other clans, claiming that they were too boring, and also famous for announcing his last name, boasting that he was powerful enough to reveal his name without risking forced bonding. Even so, the Touou Clan was famous for having six leaders, an unprecedented amount since the average was two, including the Analyst, a rare pink-haired female leader. Although, that was before Formless Aomine and Quick Shooter both left, presumably to become familiars.

The only reasons they could have left their clans were either to become familiars, or that they had been expelled or executed by the clan due to betrayal. Reasons for leaving were usually kept secret. Those that had become powerless, however, due to exorcism were protected by the clan, no matter the crime.

(Well, saying 'no matter the crime' sounded nice, but in fact, if the crime was too heavy, the priests themselves would have fully exorcised the demon, killing them. Then, there was no more demon to protect.)

The only clans with above three leaders were Seirin, Touou, Shuutoku, Kaijou, Yosen and Rakuzan – a mere six clans out of hundreds. Though, three of Rakuzan's leaders had left years ago, and a few of Seirin's, leaving them both with four and three leaders respectively. Shuutoku, as far as anyone knew (so long as the secret was kept) had four leaders, after two had left years ago. Now, they only had one – Takao, or Hawkeye. Or none right now, seeing as Takao was here.

It was Midorima's fault.

Yes, Takao had a lot of information on the other clans (seeing as he  _was_  a leader himself). Most of the clans did have someone they considered the head – the  _leader_  of leaders. It was not necessary to be the most powerful to be the head. One was usually acknowledged as a leader when their powers reached a certain level, but to be the head, the leaders had to all agree.

Most clans also hid the identity of the head, and of the leaders, to prevent forced bonding or assassinations. Powerful demons tended to be sought after by priests, and there were incidents of forced bonding. Most priests accused of forced bonding would be forced to break the bond, but the agony of a forced break was quite excruciating – demon victims could feel the pain for years. Furthermore, sometimes forced bonding remains undiscovered for years, until the priest dies from an accident or something and they discover that the demon was forced into the bond, and was ordered to keep quiet about it.

That was the reason for the creation of the Bonding Ceremony, where the bonding would take place with the entire division as witnesses.

The exceptions were demons that were sentenced to full exorcism. They could request to be forcibly bonded to a priest to pay for their crimes. Yet, many condemned demons would prefer to die than to bond to a priest as they had no choice over the priest they were bonded to and had to obey that priest's orders for the rest of their lives. Plus if the priest died, they would be sentenced of full exorcism, as they were no longer a familiar.

It was no wonder they preferred death.

Back to the subject of priests and demons he saw, there was Kagami-Kuroko pair. Now their meeting was quite interesting.

* * *

_~ TINY FLASHBACK~ _

_"Oi, demon!" Kagami called out, cupping one hand around his mouth as he looked up. Takao glanced down, placing the bucket of cement down, raising his eyebrow._

_"Yeah, priest? Need something?" Takao asked, waving. The red-haired priest was holding onto a tray of food, presumably his lunch. That teal-haired familiar of his was just behind him, moving forward as Kagami took a few steps, like a shadow. He had a few flacks of scales lining his cheeks and the back of his hands, and tended to blend into the surroundings whenever Takao's attention wavered._

_A shadow… That seemed like an apt description._

_"Midorima was busy, so he asked me to bring you lunch." Kagami said, holding up the tray for emphasis. Kuroko was holding onto his drink and dessert, as far as he could tell. Takao tossed his equipment to the side as he jumped down, flapping his wings a few times to land on the ground safely._

_"Really? How nice of him!" Takao said, sounding sarcastic to himself but pleasantly surprised to others, beating the dust and dirt off his familiar uniform (urgh, why was he still wearing that? Oh yeah, no other clothing…), before walking over to grab the tray of food. The food smelled good! Or maybe the saying 'hunger is the best spice' was true and he was just starving. Takao took the fork and spoon from Kagami, balancing them on his tray before reaching over to Kuroko to grab the drink and dessert, holding the tray in one hand and the drink and dessert in the other. He walked over to the nearest bench under the shade and sat down, dropping his tray in his lap and placing the rest at the side, digging in._

_A couple of spoonfuls later, he looked up, staring at the motionless priest-familiar pair in front of him, who were giving him the most flabbergasted expression he had ever seen, wide eyes, jaw dropping and everything (though, Kuroko's eyes widened only slightly, and the jaw dropped by a mere millimeter)._

_"Huh? What's with you two?" Takao asked, talking through mouthfuls of rice. He swallowed everything before continuing. "Never seen a guy eat before?"_

_"Y-you saw him?" Kagami asked, jaw hanging as he pointed to the teal-haired familiar. Takao raised his eyebrows._

_"He's just behind you, why wouldn't I?" Takao asked, pointing his fork in the direction of the familiar standing behind Kagami. Kagami shook his head, blinking e few times._

_"No, usually, people don't notice him." Kagami explained, taking a step forward. Kuroko also took a step forward. Takao inwardly panicked. Shit, does that mean his hawkeyes can see him? Is he special that way? Crap, could they discover who he was? Takao smiled brightly and went back to his food._

_"Heh, I guess I'm pretty awesome." Takao boasted, pushing into his tone a sense of pride he didn't quite feel. Kuroko glanced at him, before nodding._

_"It might be that you're developing a special ability. Perhaps one similar to Eagle Eye of Seirin. He can see me too. Most of the time." Kuroko speculated, staring at him with round sky-blue eyes. Takao almost heaved a sigh of relief._

_"Really? That'll be super cool!" Takao grinned, stuffing a piece of chicken into his mouth. He glanced upwards, keeping an awestruck expression plastered on his face, looking very much like he was thinking of what his 'super cool eye power' could be. Kagami chuckled, moving forward to take a seat on the bench._

_"Heh, maybe you're gonna get some powerful ability in your eyes, like Hawkeye of Shuutoku or Eagle Eye of Seirin!" Kagami said, grinning widely. Takao nodded enthusiastically, cringing inwardly at Kagami mentioning him and his clan, about to answer before Kuroko spoke._

_"Kagami-kun, we have a mission." Kuroko stated, pointing behind them. Kagami's eyes widened, before he hopped of the bench._

_"I almost forgot!" Kagami said, running forward, before he turned to face Takao. "After you're done, put the dishes and stuff back into the kitchen!"_

_"Nice meeting you, Takao-kun." Kuroko said, bowing lightly. They were about to leave when Takao stood up and called out, causing them to turn back._

_"Wait, wait! What are your names?" Takao asked, grinning at them. He actually (sort of) knows their names, but he wanted it to be official. "I kinda don't know anyone here, except Shin-chan."_

_Kuroko smiled slightly, a quirk of his lips, before answering. "Kuroko Tetsuya, nice you meet you."_

_"I'm Kagami Taiga! Nice to meet you, Takao!" Kagami grinned widely, banging his chest with his fist once, before waving a little and turning away, the pair disappearing._

_~ END TINY FLASHBACK~ _

* * *

Well, familiars didn't have to worry about giving out their names, since demons could only bond with one priest in their lifetime. A priest could also only bond with one familiar in their lifetime (excluding Akashi, because Akashi), and therefore many treated bonding like a second marriage, till death do them part. Some priests actually married their familiars. Any half-breeds born were usually very welcomed as priests, as many had stronger powers than humans. The downside to these half-breeds was that they were infertile. Therefore priest and familiar pairs who were in love would usually prefer to have children by other means.

Takao also noticed a familiar-less priest called Himuro Tatsuya, most likely about to be bonded to a purple-haired demon with bear ears and a round tail. He only spotted him walking down the corridors a few times, carrying stakes of paperwork and followed by that purple-haired demon, like a lost child following his mother around.

There was also another familiar-less priest named Nijimura Shuzou, the head of the Western division and the previous head of the Priest Council (first ever to obtain the position without having a familiar), who resigned due to family matters. He spotted him walking down the corridor to Midorima's office, as Akashi had left for a while, before leaving with the Kagami-Kuroko pair, who had delivered lunch to him, on some mission perhaps. That was the only time he saw the black-haired priest.

On the other hand, Akashi and his three familiars were a common sight. All three had differently coloured canine tails and ears. Takao saw Mibuchi Reo healing an injured person, without assistance, and doing quite well. It wasn't to Midorima's near-perfect standards, but it was as potent as Miyaji's healing and most likely better than his own, at full power.

The three familiars were also excellent cooks. Though the only one he saw doing the actual cooking was Mibuchi, the other two just chopped up vegetables or stirred the soup, receiving instructions from Mibuchi. They cooked nearly every meal for Akashi, except for that day Kagami brought food to him. The food was cooked by Kagami (and quite tasty too) as Akashi left the building with his familiars to do something (Currently, his hawkeyes don't reach  _that_  far).

As far as he could tell, there were no secluded areas in his immediate surroundings, or further down as far as his hawkeyes could currently reach. His hawkeyes' range of vision was limited to the several rooms surrounding Midorima's, the kitchen, the dining rooms, the toilets, the prayer rooms and the area near Akashi's office – nothing further than that. It was a considerably wide range for demons but it was smaller than his usual. If his powers were not bound, he would be able to see the entire compound and then some.

Well, that was the price of revenge, or the attempt of it.

Takao sighed, and continued repairing the roof, wiping the sweat off his brow.

* * *

Midorima knocked onto the door of Akashi's office, entering after. Placing the medical reports Akashi requested on the table, he turned to leave.

"Shintarou, Sit." Akashi said, not looking up but gesturing to the chair in front of his table. Midorima turned and sat down, crossing his legs and staring at Akashi. The head priest motioned for his familiars to leave the room, and placed his pen beside his paperwork, speaking as soon as the door was closed.

"The demon has been fixing your roof for a few days." Akashi mentioned, looking up from his stack of paperwork. Midorima nodded.

"Indeed, I have asked him to fix my roof before he may leave." Midorima said, keeping eye contact with Akashi. Akashi nodded, interlocking the fingers of his hands.

"There was no trouble, I assume?" Akashi asked, as if he already knew the reply. Midorima nodded, rubbing his idol-printed towel lucky item with his thumb, keeping his taped left hand on him knee.

"He simply complained insistently on breaks and food and whined about overwork and collapsing. He was exaggerating, I assure you." Midorima answered, watching as Akashi nodded again and leaned back on his chair.

"He could see Tetsuya." Akashi said, frowning slightly. Midorima's eyes widened as he digested that information.

"Wha- How?" Midorima asked, leaning forward.

"Tetsuya assured me it was not deliberate. Takao was simply taking his food from Tetsuya without straining himself to find him." Akashi answered, leaning forward slightly. "It would seem that Takao may have a power within his eyes, perhaps manifesting recently."

"His power level is-"

"His power level might grow." Akashi interrupted, leaning forward. There was a gleam in his eyes Midorima didn't quite like. "He could be a potential familiar for you."

Midorima bristled. "No, he irritates me."

"He irritates you?" Akashi raised an eyebrow. "Well, that is a first. Usually the potential familiar would be irritated by you, and I  _am_  using 'irritated' in the loosest sense of the word."

Midorima almost growled.

"He calls me by a ridiculous nickname, refuses to stop talking when I ask him to, whines insistently when I tell him to return to fixing my roof, and doesn't stay away from me when I shout at him or insult him." Midorima started ranting, rubbing the towel between his fingers, taking another breath before continuing. "Then he follows me around after I bring him dinner and let him rest, refuses to leave even when I blast him with my aura, enters my room before I sleep to disturb me with 'good night' and 'don't let the bed bugs bite', breaks my lucky items by playing with them, and also flies around me yelling "Shin-chan!" at the top of his lungs, refusing to shut up even when I tell him to!"

Midorima panted a little after that rant, watching as Akashi merely lifted an eyebrow and nodded, smiling slightly. "Indeed, he would be a good familiar for you."

Midorima gave him an incredulous look, frowning. "I just said that he was annoying and disruptive, and described his atrocious behaviour. How does that translate to being a good familiar?"

Akashi just smiled, making Midorima feel as if there was something obvious that he was missing by a mile.

"Just keep Takao in mind as a potential familiar." Akashi said, pulling out a folder from his stack beside him. Midorima bristled, but nodded. Opening the folder, Akashi flipped it to a certain page before turning it around and handing it to Midorima. Midorima received it, staring at the two pictures on the left side of the page, reading the information on the right.

**_~(~-~)~_ **

**SEIHO CLAN**

**_~(~-~)~_ **

_Alias_ _: Nanba Defense_

_Clan mask_ _: Black and white with lines across the forehead, Seiho in kanji on the right cheek_

_Position_ _: Leader (suspected Head)_

_Known abilities_ _: Highly trained martial artist, above average manipulation of aura_

_Known features_ _: Tall, very muscular, black feline ears and tail_

**_~(~-~)~_ **

_Alias_ _: The Monk_

_Clan mask_ _: Black and white with straight lines across diagonally, Seiho in kanji on the right cheek_

_Position_ _: Leader_

_Known abilities_ _: Highly trained martial artist, strong defense, above average manipulation of aura_

_Known features_ _: Bald, tall, grey feline ears and tail_

_**~(~-~)~** _

"Another potential familiar meeting?" Midorima asked, inwardly sighing as he scanned through the information given. Akashi nodded.

"I have already arranged a meeting within a few days. All the necessary information will be inside that folder." Akashi said, resting his chin on his interlocked fingers. "Hopefully, you'll find a suitable familiar."

Midorima closed the folder and stood up. "Understood."

* * *

Grumbling to himself, he continued his repairs on the damn roof. So far, the roof was around half done. Takao nodded to himself and gave himself a mental pat on the back. He spotted Midorima walking over and looked up, then noticed that the sun was setting, which meant that Midorima was here with his dinner and he was free~ from work. Giving off a little whoop of joy, he tossed the building material to the side, covered the unfinished portion of the roof with plastic, and hopped down, just as Midorima come into sight.

As he came down, his forearm brushed against the edge of the roof, causing him to wince slightly as the surface of his arm got scratched. He flapped his wings a few times, staying airborne as he examined the scratch. It was just a surface wound, barely broke the skin.

Ignoring the scratch, he flapped his wings, flying toward Midorima as he dropped the tray on bench.

"Eat." He said, before sitting down on the bench beside the tray. Draped across his arm was an idol-print towel – his lucky item of the day. Takao remembered snorted at it before asking Midorima if he even knew the identity of the idol on the towel, to which Midorima replied, "It's an idol. My lucky item for today is an idol-themed towel."

This meant that he had no idea who the idol was, or that it was catered to 9 year old little girls.

Takao grinned widely as he landed and grabbed the utensils, sitting down and digging in. Midorima frowned at him, pushing up his glasses.

"Your arm has blood on it." He mentioned, leaning forward. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Takao glanced up from his food, glancing at his arm. "Nah, it's fine. Leave it."

"No, you might get it infected if you do not close the wound, nodayo." Midorima insisted, reaching over to grab the arm. Takao's eyes widened as he dodged the hand. He blocked the other hand before Midorima could touch him.

"No, no it's fine. It's just a scratch." Takao said, raising his eyebrow. He was awarded the most skeptical look he had ever received over a scratch, and he sighed. "Fine, I'll just heal it, alright?"

Takao's hand hovered over the other forearm, emitting as white glow as the wound slowly closed up. Within thirty seconds or so (far longer than he usually took to heal a mere scratch), the wound was mostly healed and he nodded, satisfied, returning to his dinner. He suddenly felt a weighted stare from beside him and he glanced up, raising an eyebrow at Midorima's wide eyed stare.

"What? I healed it! No more infection." Takao said, shifting around under the stare. Midorima blinked a few times, rubbing the towel he was holding between his fingers.

"You can heal?" Midorima asked, leaning forward slightly, causing Takao to lean back. "Since when?"

"Since I learned how to?" Takao answered in a form of a question. "What's wrong, Shin-chan?"

Takao had to admit, calling Midorima 'Shin-chan' was becoming quite the hobby. Midorima's reactions were always entertaining – blushing, stammering, bristling, shouting, crossing his arms and turning into some prissy princess. Entertainment at its finest.

Plus a little bit of passive-aggressive revenge never hurt.

This time, Midorima bristled, but pushed his retort against the nickname aside as he asked, "You know how to heal. Why didn't you tell me?"

Takao raised his eyebrow again, scooping some of his rice into his mouth as he continued eating. "Yogu digdn't ars-"

"Swallow before you speak, nanodayo!" Midorima barked, almost recoiling in disgust at Takao's terrible manners. Takao inwardly snickered as he swallowed.

"You didn't ask." Takao answered, grinning. "Plus, you're the head healer! What's my measly healing ability when compared to yours?"

"No, I must know how well you heal." Midorima said, standing and pacing a little. Takao just leaned back and continued eating. "The rate at which you heal, the potency of your healing aura, the cell regrowth rate, the blood enhancement rate, the compatibility percentage, the-"

"You wanna conduct a scientific study on me or something?" Takao asked, swallowing his latest bite of food. Midorima turned and glared, making Takao snort outwardly.

"No, I want data on healers, particularly demon healers. The number of known demon healers is staggeringly low. Is it because of biology or preference that there are more priest healers than demon ones?" Midorima said, walking back and sitting down. "So far, the only known demon healers are Akashi's familiar, one from Touou, one from Shuutoku, and two from Seirin, and a two other familiars from the various divisions, as compared to priest healers which number one in every five priests."

Takao nodded as Midorima spoke, mentally jotting down the fact that the priests do not have information on the  _two_  healers in Shuutoku. Midorima continued, turning to face him. "You must come with me to the infirmary. I wish to test your ability, nanodayo."

Takao raised his eyebrow, staring at him. "What? No way."

Midorima paused, then turned to face him with wide eyes. "Why not?"

Takao was taken aback by Midorima's apparent cluelessness. Which non-bonded demon would willingly give information to priests? "Why yes?"

Midorima didn't answer for a moment, probably speechless. That pouty face Midorima was unconsciously sprouting combined with yet another 'nanodayo' previously, made him look like a princess who had been denied her favourite food and was doing her best not to sulk. Takao snorted, watching as Midorima bristled, looking more like a princess.

"I need data on your healing ability for my research." Midorima said, crossing his arms. Takao snorted inwardly. Man, the guy really didn't know how to ask politely.

"Yeah… Still no." He answered, scooping up the last bit to rice and popping it into his mouth, sighing. Midorima bit his lips, trying to think of a way to bargain for data of demon healers. Takao suddenly had a great idea, snapping his fingers as the idea popped up.

"I know! I'll give you your healer data, as long as I can continue fixing your roof from dawn to noon only, not from dusk to dawn – do you know how tiring that is?" Takao offered, whining a little at the end. That was actually a good idea – more time to spend with Midorima and gain Midorima's trust, more time to explore the area and search for a secluded corner, more time to plan out his murder of Midorima. Yes, an excellent plan indeed.

Midorima frowned.

"You destroyed my roof. You're fixing it." Midorima huffed (Takao didn't know anyone who could  _huff_  as well as Midorima could), crossing his arms. Takao grinned.

"Yes, yes, I'll fix your damn roof." Takao answered flippantly, smirking inwardly as Midorima almost growled at him for insulting the roof. "I'll just take a longer time, and we'll get to spend some time together~! And I can finally explore this place!"

Midorima seemed to think about it for a while, before nodding, causing Takao to inwardly dance in victory. "That seems reasonable."

Takao grinned. "So do we have a deal?"

Midorima stood up abruptly. "Go change and bathe, then come to the infirmary."

"I'll take that as a yes, Shin-chan!" Takao chuckled as Midorima seemed to fume at him, leaving without another word.

* * *

Takao hopped out of the shower, tugging on Midorima's familiar uniform yet again (seeing that uniform never failed to make him seethe a little), and he took off in the direction of the infirmary.

The familiar uniform was made of a special material. There were only three sets of each unique uniform, and were made of the same material as the priest uniform, just of a different design and colour. Priest uniforms were made of pure white cloth with symbols and patterns unique to the priest printed around the collar and sleeve ends. There was also a symbol on the left that signified the division of the priest. Familiar uniforms were the same, except that instead of pure white cloth, it was peach-white, a slightly dimmer shade of white with zips for tails or wings.

All six sets of uniforms were made from the same sets of blessed cloth and thread, supposedly connecting the wearers spiritually, making them both more powerful.

Though, that only happened with bonded pairs, probably.

The inside was made with two detachable layers, for colder or warmer weathers, and was quite comfortable (to be truthful). The long sleeves could also be buttoned up to hang at the shoulders, the belt could be tightened or loosened. The cloth itself would also shrink and stretch based on the wearer's size, couldn't be burned, and would weave itself back together should any tears occur.

It was really versatile, in his most humble opinion.

Takao pushed the infirmary door open, sticking his head in. "Shin-chan!"

The soft groan from the corner pinpointed Midorima's location. There were also a couple of giggles from the infirmary beds.

Takao ignored them all and headed toward the green-haired priest. "Shin-chan! I'm here!"

"Yes, I heard you when you came in. Stop calling me that."

"Sure, Shin-chan. What should I do?" There were a couple of giggles again, but Takao was too busy enjoying the indignant look on Midorima's face.

"Here, heal this." Midorima shoved a tray in his direction, glaring at him slightly. Takao glanced at the fish in the tray as it wiggled slightly.

"Heal the fish?" Takao asked, eyebrow raised. There was a heavy silence in the infirmary.

"Takao-kun, you can heal?" Kuroko asked, standing beside him. Takao nodded, inwardly snickering with glee as he spotted Midorima jumping slightly in shock from Kuroko's sudden (not to him) appearance. He could swear that Kuroko was also enjoying his reaction.

"Yeah, a little." Takao answered, placing the tray of live fish on the nearest desk. "Shin-chan wanted to examine my healing or something."

"I wished to collect data on a demon's ability and skill at healing, as they rare and few, nanodayo." Midorima corrected, pushing up his glasses. He glared in the general direction of the infirmary beds, forcing the giggles to subside. Takao turned to glance at Kuroko.

"You injured or something? Why're you here?" Takao asked the familiar, watching as he simply pointed to one of the infirmary beds, Kagami giggling on it.

"He charged in, forgetting that invisible did not mean invincible." Kuroko explained, shrugging. Takao chuckled, before turning back to Midorima, who had crossed his arms, glancing pointedly at the live fish.

"Yeah, I'm healing it. Where's the injury?" Takao asked, bending over the tray. Midorima stared back.

"Figure it out, and heal it." He replied, sitting on his roller chair and resting both elbows on his thighs, interlocking his fingers and resting his chin on them, watching him. Takao sighed, and examined the fish.

There was a cut near the tail, and one near the gills. Obviously the one near the gills would be more important, and required more urgent medical attention. Takao lifted his hands, both hovering over the body of the fish as they emitted a white glow. The rest of the infirmary had focused their attention on him and the fish, but he was concentrating at the moment so he ignored them.

The wound near the gill began to seal shut slowly, taking nearly two minutes, before he transferred his healing to the cut near the tail. Within five minutes, both cuts were healed out of the danger zone, and the wounds were closed. If he were at full power, he would probably have taken only a minute. The white glow subsided, and Takao took a step back.

"Here, Shin-chan, whole healed fish." Takao said, waving his hands over the fish. Midorima stood up, reaching over to grab the tray of live fish and marching back to his desk and equipment on the other side of the room, placing the fish on the table and bringing all sorts of equipment to examine it. Takao watched him, then shrugged and turned around, backing up when he saw all the looks of awe and surprise on the faces of all the people in the infirmary. Takao shifted under the stares.

"What? Something I did?" Takao asked, quirking his lips. On his right, seated beside Kagami's bed, Himuro Tatsuya spoke.

"Yes, quite so." He said, smiling sweetly. "The numbers of demon healers are quite low. May I ask how you obtained the ability?"

Takao blinked. "Well, I learned it."

Himuro didn't falter. "Yes, of course. From who?"

Takao simply raised an eyebrow. Well, the priest couldn't quite expect him to answer that question. Demons kept many things secret. The moment they found out who his teacher was, they would know which clan he was from, and thereafter the 'keeping identities of leaders and members secret' part of the treaty would be ruined.

Himuro seemed to already realize that, so he smiled. "Of course, I wouldn't expect you to answer that."

"Yeah, I know." Takao answered, smiling back. Kagami gave a cough.

"Takao, come here!" Midorima barked, waving his hand without looking up. Takao sighed and waved at the occupants of the infirmary, before moving to Midorima.

"Yeah, Shin-chan?" Takao asked, stretching his neck over to peek at the long passage of notes Midorima had written down. Midorima glanced up.

"Come here again tomorrow. I will fetch you after dinner."

Takao inwardly scoffed at the way the request (order) was phrased, but grinned and nodded anyway.

"Sure!"

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies**

**They taste good,**

**feel good,**

**make you addicted to them**

**and encourage you to work faster.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, if anyone has better aliases for the basketball players turned demons, please recommend! I'll change it and credit you!  
> Really couldnt think of anything else.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> Heh. I've updated again! Wow, I'm on a roll! Though I don't think I can keep up this speed for a while. Really busy in real life. You'll probably have to wait a while for the next update, sorry about that. Reviews equals fuel, so that might change if I get really motivated.
> 
> Once again, Not yet beta-ed. Any mistakes? Point them out! Thanks!
> 
> ENJOY!

Takao was seated inside a huge chamber on one of the seats beside Midorima, watching as priests, familiars, humans who were not priests and a bunch of demons with masks entered the chamber and sat in their allocated areas. The demons were wearing masks with a combination of white background, pink and black lines, and Yosen in kanji on the left cheek, coloured pink and black. The chamber was located near the end of the Northern division compounds, accessible by demons, priests and familiars.

Why was Takao here? Well, apparently there were going to be two Bonding Ceremonies conducted today, and every member living in the compound was expected to attend, even Takao. The soon-to-be-familiar's clan leaders were also expected to attend, to witness the new bonds between priest and familiar.

(Takao had spent a few hours sweating and fixing the roof, before Midorima dragged him down an hour before noon, tossing him into the bathroom to "Shower! You stink!". Midorima hadn't even told him about this ceremony today! What a meanie…)

It would seem that one (or maybe two) of the Yosen's clan members was going to become a familiar. Most likely it would be a leader of the clan. Takao wouldn't know until they saw the familiar-to-be.

"Shin-chan, who's doing the bonding thing?" Takao asked, whispering loudly to Midorima, who sighed.

"This is the Bonding Ceremony, not a thing." Midorima said, pushing up his glasses. "The two bondings will be between Priest Himuro Tatsuya and Demon 'Thor' Murasakibara, and between Priest Nijimura Shuzou and Condemned Demon 'The Stealer'."

Takao blinked. "Condemned?"

"He had been killing and eating human women, and was actually sentenced to full exorcism after he was caught. However, he requested for forced bonding instead." Midorima explained, caressing his hello kitty doll (Takao had blinked, then ignored it) and frowning. "Since The Stealer had a power level of a leader, the priest chosen to bond with him was Nijimura, the previous head of the Priest Council."

"Wasn't The Stealer a leader of the Fukuda Clan?" Takao asked.

"He left a while ago. Presumably he was expelled from the clan for unknown reasons." Midorima said.

"Huh."

* * *

After everyone was seated, the lights dimmed, and the chamber went quiet. Takao watched as Nijimura Shuzou stepped to the center of the chamber. Two other priests led another gray-haired demon to the center, leaving him there before walking back. The Stealer had thick gray scales on his face, as well as binding handcuffs around his wrists, binding down his powers to that of a low level demon.

A soft wisp of energy circled the pair, before a bright glow of silver and blue filled the chamber, the thin wisp solidifying into a thick circle of light.

Nijimura glanced at the condemned demon, raising his eyebrow in expectation.

"Che. Haizaki Shougo." He grunted, revealing his full name for the first time. Nijimura nodded.

"Haizaki Shougo, we have entered a bond between Priest and Familiar. You are hereby bound as Familiar to Priest Nijimura Shuzou. Do you accept?" Nijimura stated, watching Haizaki as he leaned back, glancing up.

"Like I have a choice." Haizaki grumbled, shaking his chains for emphasis. Nijimura frowned.

"Do you accept?" He asked again.

"Fine, I accept." Haizaki growled. Nijimura simply nodded as he placed his right hand on Haizaki's right, silver-blue wisps of energy wrapping itself around both forearms, imprinting Nijimura's priest symbol on the inside of their forearms, solid and blue.

The bright glow dimmed slowly, the chamber falling back into misty light. Nijimura reached forward and removed the handcuffs from Haizaki's person, motioning for his new familiar to follow him before turning on his heel.

In a flash, Haizaki's grey-black had solidified into a several spears, shooting themselves toward Nijimura and the Kagami-Kuroko pair. There were gasps and shouts.

" **Freeze, Haizaki.** " Nijimura simply said, pushing his power into his voice. The spears froze a short distance from their targets, and so did Haizaki. Nijimura turned and watched Haizaki.

"And what were you hoping to accomplish?" Nijimura asked, raising his eyebrow. Haizaki just smirked.

"Just wanted to see what you would do." Haizaki answered, still motionless. "And if you died, well, just a bonus, I guess."

" **Disperse your aura.** " Nijimura ordered, the spears vanishing immediately. "I see that you do not wish for me to place restrictions on you in private. I shall do so in public, then."

" **You are not to use your power for anything other than to defend yourself from physical harm, and to follow my explicit orders. This includes manipulation of aura, healing and physical combat. You may only defend yourself from physical harm, ensuring that you do not inflict any fatal or serious injuries, serious injuries only when absolutely necessary.** " Nijimura ordered, his voice layered with power, Haizaki growling at his priest. There were snickers resounding across the room, obviously enjoying his humiliation. Takao couldn't help but cringe. If he were caught after eating Midorima, there was no way he was going to request forced bonding.

" **You will not actively search for loopholes in my orders, and follow them to the best of your ability. Should I pass on, you will submit yourself to the Priest Council's verdict, whatever it may be.** " Nijimura watched Haizaki, keeping eye contact. " **Is that clear?** "

"Cyrstal." Haizaki spat, still frozen.

"Good. Let us leave. There is another pair to be bonded, and I fear the mood has been thoroughly ruined by you." Nijimura turned and walked off, his new familiar following behind, grumbling, snickering still resounding in the chamber.

* * *

The moment they left, the other priest, Himuro Tatsuya walked up to the center together with Murasakibara. A soft wisp of glowing energy twirled around them in a circle. The chamber fell silent again, before a bright glow of purple and silver filled the chamber, the thin wisp of a circle solidifying into a thick circle of light.

"Murasakibara Atsushi." Murasakibara stated lazily, revealing his full name for the first time. Himuro smiled at him gently.

"Murasakibara Atsushi, we have entered a bond between Priest and Familiar. You are hereby bound as Familiar to Priest Himuro Tatsuya. Do you accept?" Himuro stated clearly, silver wisps of energy surrounding the pair within the circle. Murasakibara blinked, then nodded.

"Sure…" he said, rocking himself back and forth on his heels. Himuro smiled at him, placing his right hand over Murasakibara's right. The silver wisps of energy wrapped itself around both forearms, imprinting Himuro's priest symbol onto the inside of their forearms, clear and purple.

Soon after, the glowing circle subsided, and the chamber fell back into misty light.

There was one clap, and that seemed to signal the need for a resounding applause and cheering, followed by people standing up and rushing toward the new priest-familiar pair, hugging or patting their backs and what-not. Takao leaned over to watch, then noticed Midorima swiftly leaving.

"Ah…? Shin-chan?"

"I am leaving. The important part is already over. The only thing that happens next is a party to celebrate the new pairs, or pair in this case." Midorima deigned himself to explain, walking away. Takao rushed to catch up.

"Join the party then, aren't you the vice-head?" Takao asked, still following behind. Midorima scoffed.

"Why should I join such a ridiculous party that happens every time a new pair is formed?" Midorima replied, pushing up his glasses. "My time is better spent working."

Takao sighed. Man, sometimes he's just so uptight. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to have some fun, Shin-chan."

"If you wish to join the party, just go ahead. All priests and familiars are welcomed to join." Midorima stated, turning behind to glance at the demon. Takao raised his eyebrow, pointing at himself.

"Did you forget? I'm not a familiar." He said, with the sort of look that questioned if Midorima had thought through what he said at all. Midorima blinked a few times, inwardly startled. The last few days with Takao had felt so natural; he had forgotten that Takao was just staying to fix his roof. Midorima ignored his thoughts, pointing at the uniform Takao was wearing.

"That is my familiar uniform. I'm sure you can gain access to the party while wearing that. You can continue fixing the roof tomorrow." Midorima said, pushing up his glasses before turning on his heel and walking away.

Takao blinked. Somehow the thought of wearing Midorima's familiar uniform didn't seem as disgusting as before. The fact that he could gain access to a party was just a bonus. And since Midorima was kind enough to let him enjoy the party, well, who was he to complain?

* * *

"So, how does the bonding feel like?" Takao asked, curious. Murasakibara took a moment to think, before placing his fork on the plate and answering in the bored drawl he was so experienced in.

"Hmm… Like eating cookies with milk," Murasakibara answered, nodding thoughtfully. Takao nodded as well, agreeing with his inner thoughts that that analogy just went straight over his head. Murasakibara turned to him and frowned, as if Takao was the stupid one for not understanding such simple logic of cookies and milk.

"… Cookies and milk both taste good on their own, but together they taste better …" Murasakibara explained, picking up his fork and walking off with his plate to find more food to eat.

Takao could (sort of) understand what Murasakibara meant, but not much.

"Yeah… I still don't understand." Takao admitted, grinning. Kuroko popped up from a corner of his vision.

"It's a warm feeling." Kuroko said, trying to answer Takao's question, glancing at Kagami before turning back to him. "The feeling of having someone connected to you, a person who'll never betray you and always remain your friend."

(Takao quite suspected that Kise and Aomine had surpassed 'friends' a long time ago.)

"Hmm… What does that feel like?" Takao asked, blinking. Did it feel like going back to Shuutoku, where his clan members bowed to him as leader, or having Miyaji greet him with a pineapple to his face, Otsubo ruffling his hair as Kimura asked him how his day was, or when Nakatani was still Head, training him in aura manipulation, being strict as hell but making him preen with the slightest praise? Did it feel as beautiful as that?

"It's like coming home after a long trip, into welcoming arms." Kuroko smiled, a warm expression on his face directed at the red-haired priest eating mountains of hamburgers on the opposite table, making Takao both jealous of what the familiar could feel, and yearning it slightly. "It's a really warm feeling."

It really did sound nice.

* * *

The moment Takao was done with the party (which lasted for hours) and dinner, Midorima had appeared to drag him into the infirmary. The infirmary beds were now empty, and the room was quiet. Takao stood near the door, watching as Midorima snatched up a notebook and pen, motioning Takao to sit on an infirmary chair as he sat on his roller chair. Takao sat, feeling like some prisoner to be interrogated, Midorima looming over him.

"How well can you manipulate your aura?" Midorima asked, staring at him, not even adding a word of pleasantries. Takao raised his eyebrow.

"What's that got to do with healing?" Takao asked, honestly curious. Midorima huffed, pushing up his glasses.

"My research shows that priest and demon healers always have excellent control over their aura, yet those with excellent control do not always develop healing abilities." Midorima answered, radiating satisfaction. Takao was once again reminded of a preening peacock, but muffled the snort that came with the thought.

"Really?" Takao asked, reluctantly fascinated. He had wondered why he developed healing abilities, and yet Kimura and Otsubo didn't. Miyaji said it was talent and hard work, but he had wondered.

"Indeed. Are healing abilities a consequence of excellent aura control, or is an excellent control due to latent haling ability?" Midorima twirled his pen around the index finger. "I haven't the answers yet. The likely explanation is talent – that you are either born with or without it."

"I disagree. Hard work is vital to everything, nodayo. One must do everything humanely possible to achieve the desired result. Fate favours those who put in their best effort. There must be a way to develop healing abilities, a connection we're missing now."

"Woah, that was some heartfelt speech." Takao said, snickering a little, causing Midorima to glower at him. Takao grinned, raising his palms out to pacify him.

"Yes, yes, Shin-chan. I do have excellent control." Takao said, answering the previous question. He rubbed his fingers together, pulling out some of his orange-black aura and coating his fingers with them. The quantity of aura he could only use now was much less than usual, but control was not really determined by power levels. One with low power levels could still have better control than one with higher levels. Midorima watched Takao effortlessly turn his aura into shapes and spirals, separate the colours of his aura to orange, black and white, and keep his aura steady on both hands. Nodding, he jotted down a few more observations into his notebook, before putting it on his lap and pulling his own aura into his hands.

"Do this." Midorima said, stretching the golden-green wisps of his aura into whips, a glowing line of light. Takao grinned, imitating the shape, his own whip coloured orange-black. Midorima nodded, dispersing his whip, jotting down more notes and mumbling to himself.

Takao ignored the priest for a moment, fascinated by the whip. He had never tried to shape his aura into something like this, mostly just sharpening the edge of his aura, creating shields or balls of energy or coating his arm to harden it and fighting hand-to-hand. His aura manipulation was mostly centered on healing and shielding, creating shapes and designs was only to train and practice his manipulations. Takao directed his aura-whip to wrap itself around a leg of one of the infirmary beds. Tugging it, he smiled as it remained steady, stretching itself.

"You have excellent control." Midorima said, still scribbling notes. "Most would not be able to create such a compact and stable whip on their first try."

Takao grinned, dissolving the whip. "What made you think it was my first try?"

Midorima snorted. "You would not be so fascinated otherwise."

"Fine. It was new. I've never really done that before." Takao relented, leaning back.

"Of course you haven't. Demons don't learn much outside of their clans, unless they request knowledge as compensation for a familiar." Midorima stood up, marching to his desk as he pulled out a cage. Opening it, he pulled out a white mouse, leaving the cage on the table and sitting back down, handing the mouse over to Takao.

"Heal it." Midorima demanded. Takao brought the mouse to eye level, examining it. On the surface, there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it, but knowing Midorima, there was probably something wrong. Using his hawkeyes, he examined the mouse more carefully, before realizing that there was an internal wound near the stomach.

That was not something he could have seen without his hawkeyes. Miyaji usually asked him to identify injuries before either one of them treated it. How was Midorima expecting him to notice the injury? Maybe it was better to pretend he didn't see anything.

"You sure it's injured, Shin-chan?" Takao asked, looking up. It was testimony to how absorbed Midorima was by his research that the nickname was just ignored.

"Yes, it is. Use your aura and find the internal injury." Midorima said, slightly impatient.

Takao paused and blinked. "My aura? Was I supposed to use it?"

"Obviously. How else would you identify internal injuries?" Midorima frowned, tapping the notebook with his pen. Takao just shrugged.

"Well, I was taught how to identify internal injuries by asking patients where the hurt was and how it felt like. Based on that, I would vary my healing." Takao said, cocking his head to the side. "I've never heard of using aura to identify injuries."

"Indeed." Midorima said, looking back down to scribble in his notebook. "Demon healing methods are sorely lacking as demon healers are few and therefore teachers are few as well. Different clans do have varied healing methods. Most clans do not even have healers."

Takao had to agree with that. "So, how am I going to heal this little guy?"

"Use your aura." Midorima looked up, frowning as he tried to describe the procedure. "Try turning it into something similar to air and pushing it into the mouse."

Pulling out some aura, Takao tried to press it into a mist, but the aura flattened into something like a pancake. He tried again, stretching it out, then cutting it up, then expanding it, all resulting in creations that were not airy at all. Breathing in again, Takao tried dispersing it into a fine mist, the same kind of feeling when dispersing the aura, and ended up with something that kind of looked and kind of felt like air. Glancing up, he saw Midorima nodding and unwittingly felt a tiny sense of gratification.

Turning back down, he pushed that mist of aura into the mouse from the side of the body, eyes widening when his aura began washing over the inside of the mouse, plotting out the contours and surfaces of the internal organs. The internal injury had a jagged feel to it, and he could feel the injury almost as well as he could see it.

"Woah, this is amazing!"

"Well? Have you found the injury yet? Heal it then." Midorima said, almost impatiently. Takao grumbled a little before letting his aura glow white, pulling out the aura-mist and healing the mouse. He was interrupted, however.

"Why did you remove your aura from inside the mouse?" Midorima demanded, stopping Takao from healing. Takao raised his eyebrow.

"How else do I heal it then?" Takao asked. Midorima graced him a  _look_ , as if the answer were perfectly obvious.

"Turn that aura inside the mouse into a healing aura! Why must you remove the aura just to replace it with another batch so far off from the actual wound?" Midorima asked. Takao had to admit that that made sense.

"I was just used to it, no need to fuss…" Takao grumbled, blowing air from his mouth as he pulled out his aura again, this time turning it into a mist and pushing it into the mouse, finding the injury and turning the mist-aura into a healing aura before healing the damn mouse. Midorima watched Takao work, jotting down a few notes.

After a few minutes, Midorima reached over to the fully-healed mouse and flooded it with his own golden-green mist-aura, examining it carefully before standing and placing it back into its cage, storing it away somewhere below the table. Takao watched him pull out another booklet to write something, shaking his legs in boredom as he played with his fingers and waited.

It was fascinating – this different method of healing. Once he got back to his clan, he could show it to Miyaji and they–

He paused. There was a very good chance he wouldn't have time to show this to Miyaji. After he eats Midorima and returns to Shuutoku to remove the exorcism symbol from the other three leaders, he would have to run from the rest of the priests gunning for him. Since Midorima was a vice-head, it was unlikely Takao would get away without a full exorcism.

Unless, of course, he took the option of forced bonding, which was highly unlikely.

"Shin-chan, am I done here?" Takao asked, playing with his fingers again. Midorima didn't answer, but came back to the seat, pulling open his notebook again.

"How well can you heal broken bones?" Midorima asked, scribbling illegible words into his notebook. Takao looked up, cocking his head to the side. Technically, at full power levels, he could heal a few broken bones within ten minutes. Healing a broken bone required a certain level of power before the bones could even begin joining back together. With his current level of power, he could probably heal only a mere fracture in five minutes. Bones were not as easy to heal as flesh wounds – internal or otherwise.

"I'm not sure." Takao admitted, truthfully. "I haven't tried to in a while."

"You have been here for less than a week. Were you not still apprenticed to a teacher before?" Midorima asked, glancing up. "How could you have not practiced? Do you expect-"

Midorima looked as if he was going to start ranting about practice being important for learning, about how it was arrogant of him to not practice (as if he could talk!), and how "Man proposes, God disposes. I am a man that proposes-" (bla bla bla), so Takao decided to interrupt him.

"I haven't had an actual teacher for a while." Takao said, trying to pacify Midorima. Technically, it was true. Miyaji had run out of things to teach him a while ago. All that was left was experience and hands-on work. In that aspect, Miyaji was far better than Takao, as he had years of experience under his belt. Takao had only discovered his ability to heal two years ago, and had started on live patients a couple of months ago. There weren't really any volunteers who would break their bones just to let Takao practice. The last broken bone he had healed was that of a bunny's, while he was still apprenticed to Miyaji, nearly half a year ago.

Midorima seemed to consider that seriously, pausing his writing. "You don't have a teacher?"

"No, I had one." Takao said, being as vague as possible. Midorima nodded.

"How much healing have you actually learned?" Midorima asked. Takao shrugged. Miyaji could only really teach him the basics. There wasn't really anything else to teach.

"How to turn your aura into a healing one and how to identify injuries. Just the basics, I guess?" Takao replied. Midorima frowned, pushing up his glasses.

"Your knowledge in healing is sorely lacking, as evident from your demonstration previously." Midorima started, rubbing his chin with his fingers. Takao had a bad feeling about where this line of conversation was leading to. "You have excellent control over your aura, and have manifested healing abilities. It would be a waste not to exploit the opportunity."

"What are you-"

"I shall become your teacher for a while, just until you finish fixing my roof." Midorima said, pushing up his glasses and glancing to the left, pointedly not looking in Takao's direction. "Consider it a slight re-compensation on my part for your efforts in fixing my roof without too much objection."

Takao blinked, taking time to digest what Midorima was saying. "Are you offering to teach me to heal?"

"I-I was offering to impart my knowledge to you, seeing as I have much of it to spare and you are lacking." Midorima stuttered slightly, his hand still on his glasses. "Don't read too much into it. I just cannot stand being in the vicinity of your incompetence. Since I am unable to be rid of you yet, I have no choice but to rid you of your incompetence."

"Shin-chan~" Takao started grinning. There was a slowly reddening tint to Midorima's cheeks.

"Don't call me that!" Midorima shouted, standing up, not noticing the notebook and pen falling to the ground. "B-be grateful that I'm even offering!"

Takao continued grinning, still seated. Midorima wanted to teach him to heal better. He would admit that in terms of healing, Midorima was loads better than him. Though, he didn't know what to feel at the offer. He was still planning to eat Midorima – maybe this would help him gain Midorima's trust.

The tsundere priest didn't even realize that the demon he wanted to teach was the one planning out his murder. That's way too careless.

He was sort of grateful. Grateful that Midorima himself was making things easier for him.

"Heh. Shin-chan's really sweet!" Takao grinned, taking pleasure at Midorima spluttering and denying, whole face now blushing red, quite a contrast to his green hair and pure white uniform. Takao inclined his head. "Sure! I'll be in your care."

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Midorima Shintarou, Vice-Head of the Northern Priest division, is in need of a demon familiar. Takao Kazunari, one of the most powerful demons of Shuutoku, is seeking revenge against the green-haired priest who rendered his clan powerless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> It's been a while since I last updated. Thank you for waiting. My examinations are finally over! The next few chapters are already in progress, and should be out within the month, subject to traffic conditions. :)
> 
> ENJOY!

Takao snickered as he hammered another nail into the metal of the roof, muffling the sound with a sleeve. With his hawkeyes, he had a lovely front-row seat to the Potential Familiar meeting between Midorima and two other demons (from their masks - Seiho Leaders). The princess was incredibly grumpy, frowning with his arms folded across his chest and fingers drumming insistently throughout their little meeting. The bald demon was happily chattering away, which only caused Midorima's mood to darken.

The priest was providing him with entertainment at its finest. Nearly every action Midorima made was heavily saturated with distaste and contempt. He paused his hammering to muffle another giggle.

"What are you laughing at, demon?"

Takao quickly swallowed his laughter, turning to glance down the roof. The Kise-Aomine pair was below, Kise smiling at some smartly-dressed and important-looking human men and women, gesturing around the vicinity and pointing out several important buildings and landmarks. Aomine was behind him, his head leaning back on his interlocked fingers, glancing up the roof.

"-and this building is where the higher-ranked priests reside, two rooms are given per priest, and it includes…"

Well, if this was one of the two rooms Midorima had, it was no wonder he wanted the roof fixed.

"Oi, demon, don't ignore me!" Takao glanced back at the dark-skinned familiar. Several of the important-looking men glanced up at Takao.

"Yes, I'm listening, don't worry!" Takao chirped, waving at him.

More of the visitors glanced up at him, several eyes widening. One of the human men pointed up at him. "Is that Priest Midorima's familiar uniform? Has he finally managed to get a familiar?"

"Hmm? Oh, that's the demon who crashed through Midorimacchi's roof by accident. Midorimacchi's making him fix the roof." Kise explained, gesturing to the cement bucket and construction tools by the side. Several of them nodded. Takao smiled sheepishly at them, waving, causing a few to smile back.

"Oh, poor thing. So Priest Midorima still hasn't a familiar?" Someone asked, turning to face Kise.

"I do not think so, but for the full details, I'm afraid you will have to ask Midorimacchi." Kise smiled. "Well then, shall we move on-"

"Oi, demon up there!" One of the men called out. Takao blinked, pointing to himself. "Yes, you. Come down for a bit."

"Come down? Alright, I guess…" Takao said, putting down his tools and jumping down, flapping his wings to descent slowly. Upon landing, he grinned at the crowd. For some reason, Kise looked slightly nervous, and Aomine was giving an 'ahh, shit' face. "Yes, human? Why did you call me down?"

"Are you a familiar?" The man asked.

Takao blinked, smiling. "Nope."

"You must be the first unbonded demon in many years to stay in the Priest Compounds for an indefinite length of time." Another human, a woman, said.

"I guess...?" Takao continued smiling, watching Kise's and Aomine's slowly paling faces. What did these humans want, exactly?

"Well, we are visitors from the Priests for the People, an influential non-governmental organisation which acts on behalf of the citizens in promoting Priesthood for human beings."

"Okay…?"

"May I ask what are your views on the priests here, after staying here for awhile?"

Takao blinked several times. "They're fine, I guess. Nice people, good food-"

"And yet Priest Midorima forced you to fix his roof?"

Takao chuckled a little at that. "Well, I broke it, so I should fix it."

The woman nodded, turning to face her colleagues. Takao raised an eyebrow, watching them and the Kise-Aomine who seemed even more worried and tense. What the heck did these humans want, anyway?

"Demon-san," Another man called out, and Takao glanced at him, inclining his head to show he was listening. "We understand that the Northern division's higher-ranked Priests are mostly half-breeds, and there is a disproportion of-"

"Isn't the term 'half-breed' a little insulting? Especially in front of one of the priests in this compound." Takao asked, eyes narrowing slightly, still smiling. Ah, he understood now. This organisation supported the promotion of Priesthood for humans - pure human beings. No wonder the Kise-Aomine pair was so nervous when they called him down to 'talk'.

"Ah, yes. My apologies, it was a slip of the tongue." The man bowed slightly, smiling sheepishly. "As I was saying, this division's higher ranked priests consists of mostly those of mixed blood, and the disproportion between human priests and mix-blooded priests with higher ranks is staggering. Do you have any views on this?"

Kise and Aomine looked increasingly anxious, and Takao wanted to sigh. Seriously, what are these humans looking for? Dirt on the mix-blooded priests? Why would a demon who has stayed in the compound for barely a week know anything? They probably couldn't find much, seeing as Aura Power decided most of the priest rankings, and mixed-blood tend to be born with more power.

"I've only been here for a few days, so I don't think I have any solid opinion on the matter." Takao answered, grinning. In this case, the best option is to play dumb. Wash your hands off everything so that you can't incriminate anyone and no one can incriminate you. Nakatani's diplomacy lessons were coming in handy. Behind the crowd, Kise heaved a silent sigh of relief.

"Any opinion is fine, we would just like your point of view, as a unbonded demon." The man pushed, taking a step forward.

Takao smiled. "I do not have any opinion on the matter."

The man seemed disappointed, turning to face away from Takao to hide his grinding teeth. Though, with his hawkeyes, that did not go unseen by him.

Another man stepped forward. "We understand that Priest Midorima is the Vice-head of this division, even though he doesn't have a familiar, and he is incredibly difficult to work with. Do you think he is deserving of that rank?"

Oh, going to the specifics now? Takao blinked and tilted his head. "Why would he not deserve that rank? Priest ranking are determined by Aura Power levels, not so much by other factors."

"Yes, but other factors are equally important in creating all-rounded priests to maintain order between humans and demons. Shouldn't priest ranking also be determined by other factors, other than power levels which is genetic?" The man questioned, jotting down a few words on his note pad. Kise and Aomine were glancing nervously at each other.

Takao smiled, fist lightly clenched. "So you're saying that Midorima should not be the Vice-head, since he does not have a familiar?"

The man nodded. "Precisely."

"Well then, from what I can remember from several years ago, there was very little protest when Priest Nijimura Shuzou became the Head of the Priest Council, and he didn't even have a familiar when he stepped down." Takao tilted his head slightly, taking a small step forward. Kise and Aomine's eyes had widened, shifting their glances between Takao and each other.

"That- Well- That's because-"

"Priests Aida Riko, Aida Kagetora, Araki Masako and several others also became Heads or Vice-heads of their divisions, or members of the Council, without a familiar. If anything, I think the promotion criteria for mixed-blood is actually getting increasingly higher than for full human beings." Takao smirked darkly. "Your organisation has a poor cover for your promotion of discrimination."

"Wha- How dare you insinuate-"

"Didn't you ask for my opinion?" Takao pouted, before shrugging. "It's a personal opinion, don't get your hackles up."

"You- Priest Kise, this demon insulted us, something must be done!" Another person in the group shouted, turning to Kise. Kise grinned nervously.

"I'm afraid you did ask for his opinion." He said, smiling.

"He has purposely insulted the very founding values of our organisation, I demand he-" The man continued ranting, before his words choked off and he fell backwards, Takao suddenly directly in his face.

"You demand? In case you have forgotten, I'm an unbonded demon. Unless I lay a finger on you, nothing can be done to me. You know neither my clan nor my name. If I was a familiar, perhaps you could pressure my priest into punishing me, but right now, you can't do anything to me." Takao chuckled, moving forward slightly, the man shifting backwards, away from him.

"Y-you-!"

"What were you all hoping to achieve from talking to me? Dirt on the mix-blooded priests? Dirt on Midorima? An unbiased opinion from an unbonded demon on the apparent discrimination within the Priest compounds?" Takao took another step forward.

"W-we-"

"So this is what human conflicts look like. I'm not sure if your civilised backstabbing is better or worse than demon conflicts-"

"Oi demon, enough." Aomine growled. Takao was suddenly jerked backwards, away from the man. It would seem that Aomine had pulled him away. Takao glanced at the human crowd, who seemed incredibly tense and fearful. Kise's hand was stretched out, in a ready stance, unsmiling face serious. Closing his eyes, Takao took a deep breath and grinned widely.

"Wow, that was intense!" Takao chirped, clapping his hands, pulling his arm out of Aomine's grip. "I'll be going back up to fix the roof. Don't mind me and enjoy your tour."

There was silence.

Takao flapped his wings several times, landing back on the roof, out of sight. Then, he purposely focused on the roof, not looking around.

Why did he do that? His plan was to deny everything and pretend to be dumb.

Oh well, what's done is done. Takao blinked a couple of times, before clapping his hands together once. Oh yeah, time to tune into The Life of Princess Midorima, episode Potential Familiar meeting.

He searched for Midorima with his hawkeyes, spotting him in garden area with the two demon leaders. Smiling, he picked up a nail and continued fixing the roof, watching one of the demon leaders get increasingly irritated with Midorima and his lucky items.

Lucky for them, today's lucky item was a pillow, which the bald demon leader was carrying, looking slightly irritated for that. Midorima was grumbling as well, the bald demon's insistent chatter continuing as they walked. The bigger sized demon suddenly face-palmed as Midorima gave the bald demon a ridiculously disgusted look.

Takao chuckled.

* * *

Akashi blinked a few times, removing his hand from covering his right eye as the yellow left eye faded back to red.

"Sei-chan? How was Midorima's meeting?" Mibuchi asked, straightening the pile of paperwork on Akashi's desk. Akashi smiled.

"It would seem that Midorima would not find a familiar in Seiho's leaders." He smirked. "Though, I believe I've found an even better choice."

"Oh?"

"Yes. There was a very interesting incident with the visitors Ryouta was bringing around."

"Is that so?" Mibuchi asked, glancing up.

Akashi nodded, eyes narrowed. "Mibuchi, I need you to investigate something for me."

* * *

Midorima sighed and picked up the file, heading to Akashi's office.

As expected, the Potential Familiar meeting did not go well. The meeting that was supposed to last for at least 12 hours was cut short after less than two hours, as both demons had confirmed that, no, they were not (never) going to bond with him, even with the high compensation offered.

Usually, a clan would receive compensation for any familiar bonded with a priest. The higher the rank and power of the priest, as well as the potential familiar, the higher the compensation offered. Compensations usually comprise of knowledge of aura manipulation, healing or martial arts (in the form of books or instructors), removal of exorcism symbols from any condemned in the clan, or simply gold and money. Other specific requests could be made as well.

Midorima scoffed. Well, he wasn't willing to bond with either of the leaders anyway. The bald one was way too annoying and the bigger sized demon could not tolerate his habits.

* * *

_FLASHBACK MINI_

* * *

_"Midorima-san, I apologise but I do not think I would be able to tolerate your habits and attitude for an extended period of time. We should not bond."_

_"Midorima, you're way too weird, and you're not nice at all! I don't wanna bond with you."_

* * *

_FLASHBACK MINI END_

* * *

He shook his head, glancing out the window and spotting Takao hard at work. It would be noon soon, and Takao did mention that he wanted to explore the compound.

Maybe it would better if Takao were his familiar.

… That was a strange thought. Takao was inconceivably annoying.

Although, Takao easily put up with his (supposedly strange) habits, accepting them without a thought (but a lot of teasing… and breaking his lucky items accidentally (or not), and giggling at him...) and was not easily offended by his harsh attitude and words. Takao smiled at him and didn't attempt to search for opportunities to stay away from him, or try not to interact with him. Furthermore, he was a healer with latent talent and ability. Perhaps he should ask for his horoscope sign.

Midorima knocked on Akashi's door, opening it. "Akashi."

"Shintarou, take a seat."

* * *

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"What were you thinking?"

"Wha-?" Takao blinked. Midorima had called him down from the rooftop, Takao's lunch in his hands. Yet the moment he landed on the ground, Midorima had started yelling. Apparently, he had heard about his interaction with their visitors.

"Were you picking a fight? Do you want to get into trouble?!" Midorima's volume increased as he got worked up.

"Shin-chan, it's alright. I didn't-"

"You're not a familiar! We do not know your clan, so basically you have little to no protection from the council or your clan, nanodayo!"

"I get it, I get it-"

"If they wanted to attack back, and succeeded, you would have to reveal your identity in order to get clan protection! You're not powerful enough to protect yourself-"

"Shin-chan, I appreciate your concern and worry-"

"I'm not worried-!"

"And yes, I understand. Do not pick a fight without backup."

"That's not what I-"

"Can I eat now? Thanks for worrying."

"I'M NOT WORRIED! Here's your food." Midorima shoved the tray at Takao, growling lightly. Takao snickered at the fuming expression on his face, accepting the tray easily.

"Thanks for worrying, Shin-chan!" Takao grinned. "By the way, can I explore this place later?"

Midorima glared at Takao, opening his mouth to say something before closing it again, red dusting his cheeks. "You may explore the compound, but keep away from the offices and the training facilities."

Takao flashed back a thumbs-up. "Got it!"

The priest snorted, turning on his heel and moving to walk off, before suddenly stopping, and turning back. "Takao, what is your horoscope sign?"

"Horoscope sign? Erm… Scorpio, since my birthday is-"

"And blood type?"

"... O. Why do you ask?"

Midorima nodded, before walking off briskly. "Be at the infirmary by 6."

* * *

Takao pushed open the door to the infirmary, sticking his head in. "Shin-chan! I'm here!"

"Come in and sit down. Stop calling me that." Midorima called out from inside, voice slightly muffled.

"Sure, Shin-chan." Takao skipped inside, glancing at the beds which were empty.

He had explored a fair bit of the compound, and even managed to get close enough to examine both Akashi's office and the training facilities, without entering.

Akashi's office was… What would be a good word for it…? It was… sterile. It was neat and orderly and completely devoid of personality. The only one of his familiars helping out in his office was Mibuchi, and on further investigation around the compound, he found the other two familiars in the training facilities reserved for the higher-ranked priests.

The training facilities were, in two words, damned awesome. Whether it was for the higher-ranked or the lower-ranked priests and their partners, it was perfect for training. There were various machinery for physical training, a couple of basketball hoops, nets, soccer goalposts and courts for games, tiny objects, hoops, bean bags and stuff that both priests and demons were using to train their aura manipulation, and even a freaking swimming pool. There were also moving targets and human-sized robots for target practise.

It was so damned awesome; Takao wanted so badly to try swimming, or try playing basketball with an actual court and hoops.

Though, in all his fervour in looking at the facilities and parts of the compound, he had totally forgotten to search for a secluded corner. In his defence, there was no lovely secluded corner in the training facilities, so that's one place out.

"Takao, place your hand on this." Midorima said, holding out a strange looking device with two flat surfaces. Takao stared at the machine, eyebrow raised.

"Here?" He asked, dropping his hand lightly onto one of the surfaces.

Midorima nodded. "Saturate the disk with your aura. Coat it fully to the best of your ability."

Takao blinked, then shrugged. Who knows what the point of this was. He followed Midorima's instructions, pulling out his orange-black aura and stretching it out, wrapping it around the disk. the device seemed to slowly absorb his aura, forcing Takao to maintain a constant supply.

What the hell was this machine? It was sucking away any aura that touched its surface. Takao grunted and pushed out more aura, wrapping the disk in several more layers, watching as it dissipated into the surface.

Midorima glanced at his screen, scanning through the read-outs.

"Your control is praiseworthy, as expected, as is your propagation rate. Though the level of intensity behind the aura is lacking, but it has commendable precision." Midorima studied the list of numbers and squiggly graphs, nodding to himself.

"Done?" Takao asked, slightly breathless. He did not have much aura available at the moment, so it was draining fast.

"Change it to a healing aura." Midorima ordered, not even glancing up from the glow of the screen.

Takao sighed and concentrated, his black aura fading into white. A bead of sweat rolled down his face, and he breathed heavily. There was a pulsing white glow around the disk, the glow slowly fading.

"The potency of your aura is relatively high, for your power level, and the precision is laudable. However, your intensity is steadily dropping. " Midorima said, looking up.

Takao smirked, hand shaking slightly, eyebrow twitching, a tick mark appearing. "I'm pretty sure that's what happens when you make someone force out their aura continuously. You know, they get tired? Ring any bells?"

Midorima blinked, then nodded. "I see, you may stop now."

Takao felt like face-palming, but redrew his aura back into himself, taking a few deep breaths. That was exhausting. His much higher power level would have been able to handle it, but right now, not really.

"I apologise, this device was calibrated and meant for those of higher power levels." Midorima said, taking a few more glances at the screen, before moving forward.

Takao huffed, sitting down and leaning back on his chair. "Fine, fine. So you just wanted to scan my aura?"

Midorima sat down, pulling his notebook over and spreading it open on the desk. "Not simply so. I was also scanning your current power levels, your attack and defence potential, as well as the approximate compatibility percentage for the materialised and healing aspects of your aura."

"I see." Takao nodded, rubbing his chin, looking up to meet Midorima's eyes. "And what does that mean?"

Midorima glared at Takao, unimpressed, before scoffing. "Hmph, of course."

Takao had the distinct impression that the level of regard Midorima held for him had dropped even further.

"Obviously, I was measuring the capacity for your aura to work in conjunction with other auras, as well as the potential ability your aura might have. It is not definite, but it provides an approximate figure to work with." Midorima explained, a 'you are beneath me' look painting his features. Takao sighed at the amount of distaste the princess held for his incompetence.

"Okay, and so? What did you find?" Takao asked quickly, to distract Midorima from his disdain.

Midorima glanced at the screen again, and turned back. "Your compatibility percentage in both aspects is surprisingly high, for a demon, since those tend to be relatively lower."

That was new. "Surprising how? What's so special about compatibility? Is it how well your aura doesn't get in the way of others?"

"Hardly. Compatibility percentage is calculated based on the percentage probability that the aura measured would augment or amplify other auras. In essence, it is the chances of your aura boosting others. The average for priests is 40%, which means that out of 10 auras, a priest would likely boost 4 of them, and not react with 6 of them." Midorima explained, drawing out a small pie chart.

Takao nodded. That was enlightening. He had noticed that his aura tended to help Ootsubo's or Miyaji's work better, but not Kimura's. Yet none of their auras helped his, but Nakatani's did (or used to, before he became a familiar). "So, what's the average for demons?"

Midorima pulled out another notebook, pointing at diagrams and figures inside. "For demons, the average is 10%, 1 out of 10."

"10%?"

"Indeed. However, yours is 52%, which is surprising. That is one of the highest I've ever seen for demons." Midorima said, flipping another page to point to other figures.

"Really? Is that good?" Takao asked, speed-reading through the page.

Midorima looked thoughtful, glancing away. "It depends on your perspective. With such a high percentage, you would be able to enhance the auras of many other priests or demons. There would be many who would want you as a clan member or a familiar simply based on this."

Internally, Takao grimaced. Change clans? Become a familiar? No thanks.

"Though, enhancement percentage would also be taken into account before any familiar bonding."

Takao perked up at that. "So are priest and familiars those that are compatible with each other?"

Midorima nodded. "Usually, a priest would search for a demon that has a moderately high enhancement percentage with themselves. Compatibility percentage only shows the chances of enhancement, not the degree of enhancement. Though, this is only measured if both sides had already agreed to a trial period as a pair. There are many pairs with low enhancement percentages, since finding another person with an above 50% enhancement percentage is very rare."

Takao nodded, and asked, "Oh, I see. What's an enhancement percentage?"

Midorima sighed, and stood up, walking toward the device and waving Takao over. "I'll show you. Watch."

Pulling out his golden-green aura, he wrapped the disk in a thick layer of glowing aura, gesturing for Takao to look at the screen.

"As you can see, the machine is recording-"

"Woah, Shin-chan, your power level is super high!" Takao exclaimed, poking the screen.

Midorima exhaled slowly. "Yes, it is high. Now, look at-"

"Your compatibility percentage is 3%?! Isn't that really low?" Takao asked, peering upward at the slowly darkening expression on Midorima's face. Grinning sheepishly, he raised his hands and slowly backed away from the screen, back straight and giving Midorima his fullest attention.

"... As I was saying, since my compatibility percentage is low, the chances of me enhancing any other auras is minimal." Midorima gritted out, pointing at the screen. He then gestured to the other disk. "Saturate the other disk with your aura."

Takao touched the disk, pushing out his aura. "Like this?"

"Yes. If you look at your readings, there is a much higher chance of your aura having an enhancement percentage with respect to mine, which means that your aura will amplify mine. The higher the percentage, the larger the enhancement."

Takao stared at the screen, eyes widening. "Woah, that's true! Enhancement percentage 91%... Aren't I amazing-"

"91%?!" Midorima nearly choked, jerking his head toward the right to gape at the screen, nearly dropping his hand.

Takao blinked. "... Is that high?"

"T-that's very high… The only documented higher percentages are 94%, which is Kuroko's enhancing Kagami's, and 96%, which is Akashi's enhancing Mibuchi's. Plus, Akashi already has stunning percentages with all three of his familiars." Midorima's jaw was hanging. Takao would be a remarkable familiar.

Takao, on the other hand, was slightly annoyed. Seriously, why was his aura so compatible with Midorima's? He huffed slightly, glancing back at the screen. "Hm…? Your aura has an 78% enhancement percentage with respect to mine..."

Midorima blinked a few times, before his eyes nearly popped out of his sockets. "What?! How is that possible?"

Takao used his other hand to scratch his head. "Yeah, I thought you had a really low compatibility percentage…"

"I-I've never had such a high enhancement percentage with anyone…" Midorima breathed, eyes scanning the screen again and again as if the readings might change with a couple more glares. Oha Asa was right, as always. Today was a day of realisation and insight!

Midorima reached out and snatched his lucky item pillow off the table, shifting to stand directly in front of the screen.

As he had thought, they were compatible. Takao was a Scorpio, which were highly compatible with Cancers. Even with Takao's average power levels, it would still amplify his own aura by at least twice or thrice. If what Akashi said was true, and Takao's power levels were to grow, the amplification could double or triple that of now. When Mibuchi's aura was amplified by Akashi, it shot up by nearly eight times, due to both their power levels. Moreover, he was able to amplify Takao's aura as well.

Perhaps it was fated that he would fail to bond with any familiar.

Takao stared at the intense look of concentration on Midorima's face, before shrugging, removing his hand from the disk. The strain from working the device was immense, for his current power level. It was slightly irritating. So what if Midorima could boost him a lot. Not like he cared. Hmph.

A lightbulb flashed above his head. Well, if anything, this just increased his worth as a familiar. Midorima would for sure try to get him as a familiar, and then trust him and... BAM! Digested priest.

"Takao! I wasn't done reading!" Midorima yelled, jabbing at the disk.

Takao rolled his eyes and made a huge show of sighing deeply, sinking into his chair. "I'm tired! You're gonna run me dry."

Midorima frowned and huffed, removing his hand from his disk. Placing his pillow securely back on the table, he reached for the notebook, when the door was suddenly pushed open.

"Midorima," Himuro walked in, carrying a pouting Murasakibara in his arms, who was hugging a bag of chips, eating it. The size difference was almost funny to look at. "Atsushi accidentally tripped along the corridors while carrying his snacks. I'm afraid he ended up falling from a height of three storeys after reaching out the window trying to retrieve some of the snacks that had fallen out."

Takao blinked. It was astonishing how Himuro could say all that with such a straight face, and smiling. Himuro gently deposited Murasakibara on one of the infirmary beds, and it was clear that the left leg bent in an unusual direction. Takao stayed at the side while Midorima strode forward, his golden-green aura dissipating into mist.

"Has either of you tried healing anything?" Midorima asked, running his misty aura over Murasakibara.

Himuro shook his head lightly. "Atsushi was eating his snacks when I found him with that broken leg."

Midorima stared, disbelieving. Himuro simply smiled and shrugged.

Turning away, Midorima focused on the patient. His aura identified the broken bone, as well as slight lacerations on the muscles inside due to the sharp bone edges. Sighing, he rubbed the bridge of his nose, getting ready to heal this idiot, before suddenly stopping.

"Takao, come here." Midorima called out, not looking up.

Takao glanced over, eyebrows rising. "Huh? What for?"

"Just come. Now."

Takao stalled for a bit, then shrugged and strolled over, standing on the opposite side of the bed. Himuro was staring at him, and Murasakibara had even paused his chewing to examine the strange new demon beside him.

"So, Shin-chan, how can I help?"

"Place your palms slightly above mine and direct your healing aura into my hands." Midorima said, not looking up. "We are going to try enhancing my aura with yours."

Both Himuro and Murasakibara eyes had widened, but neither said anything, too busy staring at Takao, who blinked and gave an incredulous look. "Seriously? Now? You sure that's fine?"

"Yes, I said so. You will only be strengthening my aura. I will be doing all the healing." Midorima said, voice tinged with impatience. "Hurry up."

Takao stared at the crazy priest, before sighing and just doing as he said, pulling out more of his own aura to infuse into Midorima's hands. Seriously, he just did so many tests and exhausted himself; Midorima is so unreasonable.

Midorima just ignored everything around him and started healing the leg, at one point using his solid aura to snap the limb back into place, ignoring the pained cries of his patient. Takao also had to concentrate to keep supplying his healing aura, which was not really easy at his current power level.

Within a minute, the broken bone was set and fixed, and Takao crumpled into the nearest bed.

"Shin-chan, you're such a slave driver…" Takao whined, breathing heavily. Midorima, on the other hand, looked as joyful as his frowning face could get.

"The time taken to heal was nearly halved, and its potency was increased." Midorima muttered, marching over to his abandoned notebook on the table to jot down a few more things.

"Halved?" Himuro gasped, blinking slowly as he walked over to his familiar's side. "That is incredible... Midorima, how high was his enhancement percentage in relation to yours?"

"91%" Midorima said without pausing or looking up from the table. Takao just ignored everyone, having had his aura manipulation pushed to its limits today.

Both Himuro's and Murasakibara's eyes had widened, and Murasakibara sat up, pulling his bag of potato chips with him. "I'm leaving, I wanna eat more snacks."

Himuro blinked as Murasakibara strode past him.

"Atsushi-" Turning quickly, he called out to his familiar and jogged after him. As the purple-haired familiar disappeared out the door, Himuro quickly turned back and smiled.

"Thank you for healing Atsushi, Midorima, Takao." He bowed slightly, before shutting the door gently.

Midorima watched the door for a few moments, before turning to call Takao. "Takao, we-"

Takao had already fallen asleep, dead to the world. Midorima's words trailed off, then he sighed and walked over, fidgeting a bit before taking a breath and scooping Takao up, intent on bringing him back to the room he was given.

He was certain now. It was not only what he wanted, but also fate's will that Takao becomes his familiar.

Akashi was right, Takao would make an excellent familiar for him.

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies**

**They taste good,**

**feel good,**

**make you addicted to them**

**and encourage you to work faster.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the canon can give Takao and Mido compatible horoscope signs, I can give them compatible auras. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! Qwaszxedc9 here! XD
> 
> Merry Christmas, guys! Here's your Christmas present! I hope I can get the next few chapters out as your packaged Christmas present... Fingers crossed, people.
> 
> ENJOY!

Takao was panting heavily, heaving and dripping with sweat as he strained to force the rickshaw forward by pedaling on the bicycle. Midorima simply leaned back, relaxed, eyes closed and smoothing down his hair as the wind blew by, hand resting on the step ladder lying beside him. The sun was slowly rising, now midway to its zenith, and was shielded by clouds drifting by. Whispers erupted throughout the street as the rickshaw and its red-faced, withering driver slowly passed by, the braver or more oblivious ones pointing fingers or snorting openly.

What was happening? Well, Midorima's lucky item of the day was apparently a 5-rungs step ladder, which he did not have. Therefore, the only logical response was to buy a new one, and use the 4-rungs step ladder as a reasonable substitute. In addition to that, it was obviously beneath someone like Midorima to have to carry the heavy and bulky ladder into town, let alone paddle his own rickshaw.

Obviously, someone had to transport the ladder for him. And while they're at it, that person might as well transport him too, since it was beneath him to actually walk on his own into town. Or even lift a finger to help throw the ladder onto the rickshaw car.

Takao cursed under his breath.

Plus, Midorima was definitely cheating in rock-paper-scissors; it was simply not possible for someone to keep winning again and again and again, no matter how much lower Scorpios were on the horoscope rankings. It was absurd.

"Hurry up, Takao, the shop will be opening soon, and I wish to be the first in line, nanodayo." Midorima pushed back his glasses, comfortably leaning back on his seat.

Takao really wanted to punch that relaxed, aristocratic face of his.

Maybe later, if he had the strength.

Midorima had dragged him from the roof, tossed him into the showers, and forced him into the bicycle seat because 'he did not have on hand Oha Asa's required lucky item of the day'. Takao had initially refused, but the idea that he would be able to watch Midorima pedal him should the princess lose a round of rock-paper-scissors had tempted him, and he had foolishly took the bait.

Now, he was stuck pedalling the priest around, and DAMN IT Midorima was definitely cheating somewhere, somehow. He just couldn't figure out how.

"Hmph, it's because you do not have fate's favour, nanodayo. You must do everything humanly possible-" And here, Takao tuned him out. He was already under physical torture, he didn't need mental torture as well.

Moreover, for some strange reason, he was still carrying the hammer from the toolbox on the roof. Midorima had stuffed that heavy thing into the pockets of his familiar uniform, and refused to let Takao take it out. Apparently, it would help him remember to fix the roof. As if he would ever forget it, the dick.

The traffic light flashed red, and Takao turned around, glaring at Midorima. "Yes, another round! I'll beat you this time!"

Midorima huffed, pushing up his glasses. "Hmph."

When the light turned green again, Takao continued forward, a tiny cloud of depression surrounding him.

* * *

As soon as they reached the shop that Midorima had specified, Takao flopped over the bike handles lifelessly, refusing to move a muscle no matter how much Midorima scoffed. Let him wallow in his erroneous life choices.

Eventually, Midorima entered the shop alone, leaving Takao with the rickshaw and the ladder. Whispers slowly flared up, eyes subtly (not quite, you assholes) flicking to the winged demon and the rickshaw.

"Is that Midorima? How did such a difficult person get a familiar-?"

"-that poor thing, being a familiar for him-"

"Finally, our esteemed priest has gotten a familiar-"

"No, let's stay away from-"

"My god, who would ever agree to be his fami-"

Takao focused inwards, ignoring the surroundings. They were really annoying, talking over him like he wasn't there or he couldn't hear them. Maybe they thought he was deaf, the idiots. Subtle, they were not.

Sighing, he turned his gaze to Midorima, who was slowly browsing through the three ladders available, check each for material, size, weight and whatever else. Seriously, they're ladders! Just take one already. But nooo, he had to check each ladder for their quality and colour and whatever other characteristics princesses like him thought of.

Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he spotted several masked demons walking along the next street over, a fair distance away. The masks were recognisable, especially one.

Miyaji-kouhai. The younger brother of Miyaji-senpai. Shuutoku demons.

Huh.

Takao, turned his gaze back to Midorima. The priest still examining the ladders.

He stood up, leaving the rickshaw behind as he flapped his wings, flying up several storeys and around the corner, out of sight of curious onlookers. He circled around the building, snatching a small piece of cloth to cover his face from a random clothesline, showing his eyes.

Landing behind the group of demons with Miyaji-kouhai, he called out, "Simmering Heat-kun."

The response was immediate. "Who-"

"It's me, kouhai." Takao said, spreading his arms wide. The rest of the Shuutoku demons fell into attack-ready position, eyeing the demon with a familiar uniform in front of them.

"I apologise, I do not know any Northern division familiars." Miyaji-kouhai answered warily. Takao winced.

"I'm not a familiar, kouhai." Takao said, snorting lightly, before pointing at his eyes. "Look at these, how could you forget me?"

"Your eyes...?" Miyaji-kouhai narrowed his eyes, examining Takao's grey orbs, before gasping. "Leader Hawkeye?"

"Yup-"

"Why are your power levels so low? And why are you a familiar-?"

"I have an explanation for that-"

"Aniki and the rest of the Leaders have been looking everywhere for you! You are being incredibly irresponsible and-"

"I've already told them-"

"You-! Argh-! I'm going to punch you, you-!"

"Eheheh. Let's not get violent-"

One of the other demons stepped forward. "Leader Hawkeye, is that really you? You went missing!"

There was a silence, then Takao rubbed the back of his head, sighing. "I'll explain everything next time. Just help me tell Boiling Heat-san and the Head that I'm alright and I'll be done soon."

Miyaji-kouhai took a step forward, sighing. "You want me to tell aniki that? You realise he's gonna be very angry, right?"

Takao winced. Yup, he was definitely going to be pineapple-ed in the face, if he ever managed to eat Midorima and remove their symbols.

"Yeah, I know, but this is something that has to be done. Just tell your brother for me. That's all I needed. Don't come after me." Takao grinned under his mask, bracing himself before waving and shooting up into the sky, flying back.

"Wait-! You haven't answered my-!"

Takao shot around the block again, circling around several buildings to lose Miyaji-kouhai from his tail. His kouhai had scowled and jumped up after him, flapping his wings quickly to try and catch hold of him. However, Takao was fairly fast, if he did say so himself. Eventually, his kouhai was no longer behind him, and he flew back to the rickshaw, dropping the makeshift mask in a random trash can.

Midorima was already out, waiting beside the rickshaw with the new ladder leaning against the railing. Takao rolled his eyes and landed.

"Where have you been?" Midorima asked, arms folded.

Takao grinned, and shrugged, "I saw something interesting."

Midorima gave him a skeptical look, but dismissed the issue. "Whatever, we are returning. Put my lucky item into the rickshaw."

* * *

Akashi blinked, the yellow fading from his eye. He rested his chin on his interlocked fingers, eyes contemplative.

* * *

By the time both of them returned from their shopping trip, it was already afternoon. Midorima sighed and mercifully allowed Takao to follow him around, instead of repairing the roof. Takao made a huge show of singing his praises and thanking Midorima for his "benevolence", and eventually Midorima growled and just shot a few stinging strands of aura at him stomping off, chin in the air (like a little princess).

Takao, though, was inwardly chuckling and giggling at how flustered and frustrated he was currently making Midorima (his fault for tricking Takao into becoming a pack mule for his ladders), and was taking much pleasure in every instance he could cause Midorima to stamp his feet at his inane behaviour. Heh, little pleasures.

The hammer still remained in his pocket for him to "remember his duty of fixing the roof". There was probably some gag in there that Takao couldn't figure out.

Following Midorima down the corridors, and making sure to chatter on about useless things to irritate the priest, they made their way to Midorima's office. Apparently, the "benevolence" came at a price - Takao helping Midorima with his "daily duties".

Takao spent the rest of the afternoon (being forced into) helping Midorima. This included filling out requests for investigations or detainments, scanning through reports of daily affairs, and sorting paperwork. Takao was even dumped with heaps of worksheets and essays on Healing Theory to grade "as practise". Peh, the damn priest was probably just lazy.

Unsurprisingly, the desk and its surrounding was fairly neat, and Midorima spent most of his time leaning back on his comfy chair, simply watching Takao scribble into the paper and scurry around the room sorting stuff out, the asshole. There were a few interesting incidents that happened recently, such as the report of a criminal priest and his familiar, and the capture and subsequent forced bonding of condemned demon The Stealer. A list on the table stated the duties and current known whereabouts of every priest and familiar in the Northern division, which Takao took a careful note of.

What was surprising was that Takao found marking homework on Healing Theory unexpectedly doable. He could tackle and fairly grade more than half of the topics tested, save a few he had never heard of. Takao simply tossed whatever he couldn't understand to Midorima, who frowned and grudgingly got off his high horse to mark those sheets, as if he was doing Takao a favour rather than the other way round.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Takao looked up from the horrendous theory paper he was marking, complete with little sparkly drawings and shiny golden ink, and glanced at Midorima, who simply called out without looking up, "Come in."

The door was pushed open and the Kise-Aomine pair walked in, Aomine leaning back on his arms.

"Midorimacchi~ We're here for our mission." Kise chirped as Aomine clicked his tongue. Midorima did not even bother to glance up, reaching below his desk and pulling out a file, tossing it to Kise, who caught it.

"Here's your mission. All the required details will be inside. If you have any questions, ask Akashi tomorrow." Midorima snapped, returning to his work. "Now leave."

"Che, you asshole."

"Midorimacchi, you're so mean! Let's talk for a bit. We don't get to talk so often-"

"I have work. Leave." Midorima said, glancing up slightly. Takao snorted. Right, who was doing the work, exactly?

"But, Midorimacchi-"

Takao decided that he should probably intervene, before Midorima started breaking out the stinging little aura balls. "Are you Kise Ryouta?"

Kise blinked, turning toward him. From the corner of his eye, he noticed the other two pairs of eyes glancing at him too. Nosy busybodies. "Yes, that's me! You're Takao, right?"

Takao simply smirked, scribbling down an 'F' on the paper he was grading before holding it up. "You're going to have to retake your compulsory Basic Healing Theory 2 class."

"WHAT?!"

"BWAHAHAHA! Kise, you suck!" Aomine guffawed, clutching onto his stomach. There was a loud snort in the background as well, but Takao ignored it in favour of fishing through his papers again, searching for a specific one.

"And you are Aomine Daiki, right?" Takao asked Aomine, grinning as he pulled out another messy script with dark blue, nearly illegible chicken scratch and a big red 'F' staining the page, letting it hang from his fingertips. "I'm afraid you'll have to retake your Basic Healing Theory 2 class as well."

"WHAT?!"

"GWAHAHAHA! Aomine, you have to retake!" Kise started sniggering, pointing at his familiar.

"Oh, shut up. You're retaking too!" Aomine growled softly, glaring at his priest, before turning back to Takao. "Why are you marking our shit anyway?"

Takao smiled, simply jabbing his thumb at Midorima, rolling his eyes. "Shin-chan."

The other two nodded at the answer, as if it held to answer to life itself. "Ah."

Midorima growled at that. "Are you done? Then leave."

"Midorimacchi, it's not nice to treat him like that, especially if you want to make him your- OW- OWowOW-!" Kise started, but was interrupted by several glowing balls that shot toward them, causing the pair to yelp and rush out, slamming the door behind them.

Takao raised an eyebrow at Kise's words, before sighing as the balls dissipated. "Shin-chan, that wasn't nice."

Midorima simply "hmph"-ed at him, and returned to his own work.

* * *

Once dinner was over, Midorima dragged Takao into the infirmary. This time, the lesson was about fingers.

"Fingers?" Takao asked, staring at Midorima's long, lean digits, clean of tape. The priest gave him a you-are-an-imbecile look and sighed. Takao pouted.

"Yes, aura manipulation, the finer aspects, lie primarily in the fingers and the wrists. Your dominant hand will have more control, nanodayo." Midorima explained slowly, producing a whole length of aura and twitching a few fingers slightly to show the aura being fine-tuned and evened out. "These finer manipulations are essential for more advanced forms of healing."

"But I don't really need to move my hands to move my aura." Takao pointed out, keeping his hands still as he pulled out his own orange-black aura and shifted it around.

"I said, fingers are required for the finer aspects of aura manipulation which is essential for advanced healing techniques, if you would care to listen." Midorima growled out, turning his length of aura into many incredibly thin threads and weaving them around. "Of course it is possible to move huge quantities of aura without actually moving, but it is nearly impossible to move tiny amounts without moving your hands, let alone shape tiny amounts without your fingers."

Takao could see the point in that. "Is that why aura manipulation turns erratic when the hands are injured?"

Midorima looked surprised and pleased by that question, and Takao felt the slightly gratified at that. "Indeed. That is why there is a rule here that when more than three fingers on the dominant hand are broken, the person is to go on forced-leave until he fully recovers."

"Heh, my clan just forces anyone with injuries to rest." Takao said, grinning slightly as he remembered Miyaji forcing several clan members to rest with threat of death via pineapple.

"Is that so?" Midorima asked, glancing up.

Takao simply smiled. "Yeah, senpai can be really anal about it."

Midorima was quiet for a while, and when Takao didn't elaborate, his face turned slightly downcast. "As I was saying, the aura manipulations will become unstable and haphazard for a priest or a familiar with severe hand injuries. They become more of a liability to themselves and others, and are therefore put on leave. Usually when healing, the priorities are life threatening injuries, fingers, then others."

"I see." Takao nodded. A lightbulb popped up. If he could injure Midorima's fingers, then it would be super easy to gobble him up.

Then, he shattered that bulb. What were the chances that Midorima would actually let his precious fingers get injured? He wraps them in tape all day, for God's sake!

"Thin aura threads would be best in order to reattach limbs…"

* * *

"Akashi, I would like Takao as my familiar." Midorima announced the moment he closed the door to the office.

"Shintarou?" Akashi glanced up, putting down his pen. He had just returned from his Council meeting and was catching up on the unfinished paperwork, when Midorima came bursting into his office.

"Our enhancement percentages with respect to each other are the highest I've ever received. We are incredibly compatible." Midorima started, holding out a thin file for Akashi to read through. "And his healing has been improving by leaps and bounds. It would seem that his ability was hampered by a lack of knowledge, not a lack of talent."

Akashi accepted the file, flipping through it slowly and scanning every detail. "How about you take a seat first, Shintarou. This might take a while."

* * *

"91% with respect to yours and 78% with respect to Takao's... Those are indeed high percentages. Takao is a very rare find." Akashi stated, closing the folder and crossing his arms. Midorima pushed up his glasses, nodding triumphantly.

"Indeed. I find him vaguely tolerable." Midorima said, pushing up his glasses.

"I have noticed." Akashi nodded. "I am in the process of investigating his background, though, chances are, that might prove fruitless. If you do wish to have him as your familiar, you will have to gain consent from his clan and their leaders. Unless, of course, he is clan-less."

"Takao is not clan-less. He has mentioned his clan several times, though not specified." Midorima pointed out. "He has not, however, given any hints on his alias or his clan name, no matter how much I tried to nudge the topic in that direction."

Akashi looked thoughtful, leaning forward and interlocking his fingers. "What of his view on familiars?"

Midorima shook his head slowly. "He has said nothing on the subject."

Nodding, Akashi scooped up the file, handing it back to Midorima. "Well then, I would like to speak to him tomorrow."

Midorima blinked. "You want to speak-"

"Yes, if that is possible." Akashi smiled and glanced at his schedule, scanning it quickly. "Would he be free at 2pm tomorrow?"

Blinking again, Midorima rubbed his thumb against his lucky item ladder, which rested against the table, "Yes, he would be free."

"Excellent." Akashi nodded, standing up. "My office-"

"SHIN-CHAAaaaan~!" There was a loud, drawn-out scream just outside the door, volume gradually fading as the source rushed down the hallway. Midorima sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, Akashi looking slightly amused, giving Midorima a look that clearly conveyed the feeling of 'well, you chose him', making Midorima sigh even more deeply, looking as if he regretted all of his life's decisions that finally led to this point.

The Vice-head stood up briskly, nodding to Akashi. "Your office, 2pm."

"Yes, you are dismissed."

* * *

Takao had seen it many times, but watching it happen in real life was nothing compared to watching from afar with his Hawkeyes.

"Pfftahahahahaha~!"

"Quiet, Takao!" Midorima snapped back, continuing to stretch his left arm over his right leg with his legs flat on the ground, attempting to and failing to ignore the laughing demon at the doorway. Takao had continued laughing and snorting, hugging his stomach tightly.

"-ahahahah~! Oh god, I can't breathe! Pffftahahaha~!" Takao continued, collapsing on the ground as he smacked his hand repeatedly onto the ground. Midorima's face had turned horribly flushed, and he scowled, turning away as he stood up and continued stretching. Though, anyone could probably tell he really wanted to smack Takao across his head.

"Takao…" Midorima growled as he clenched his fist. Takao tried to smother his laughter, but then looked up again at Midorima bending forward, touching the ground, before bursting back into laughter.

"Man, it's really funny up close, you doing your nightly stretches! I saw you doing this before but it never seemed as funny until now." Takao squeezed out amidst laughter, and Midorima glanced up thoughtfully.

"You've seen me doing this?" Midorima asked, watching as Takao's laughter suddenly halted, still facing the ground. "Akashi did mention you were developing a power in your eyes."

"Since when did you know about that?" Takao asked softly, not looking up, causing Midorima to frown at the tone. Inwardly, Takao was startled. Since when did Midorima find out? The only person who knew (somewhat) was the Kagami-Kuroko pair, who, upon reflection, would have probably told Akashi about it, who probably told Midorima. Damn, these nosy busybodies.

Then, Takao breathed out, suddenly perking up, catching Midorima's narrow-eyed gaze and grinning slyly at the Priest. "Do you trade gossip about me in your free time?"

Midorima immediately took offense, pushing up his glasses haughtily. "No, as a matter of fact, we do not gossip. I was simply curious. If you do not wish to answer me I will not push."

"Easy there." Takao laughed, waving a hand flippantly. "I was just asking. No need to get offended, Shin-chan."

"Hmph." Midorima turned away, pushing up his glasses yet again. "I was not offended, nanodayo."

Takao nodded. Right…

Well, anyway, he didn't actually mean to let the information about his Hawkeyes slip out, but this seemed like a good opportunity to build some trust.

"Well, I think I've been able to see very well in the past year or so." Well, actually, it was the past 5 years, but how would Midorima ever know? Recent enough to seem like a new development. "Suddenly, I could see through walls and have a bird's eye view of things from really far away, and could even find internal injuries in a person."

Takao paused, eyes glazed slightly. "I could see everything around me."

Midorima had actually stopped his stretching to think deeply about what I was saying, rubbing his chin. "That seems extensive. There have only been several recorded abilities in the eyes. Perhaps yours might fall under them. Though, judging from your list, it could be a new ability."

"Several?" Takao perked up at that. He had only heard of a few. Information did not flow freely between the clans or the priests. He was already learning so much just by staying there for a week.

Midorima glanced at him, before motioning for Takao to sit on one of the chairs nearby, the priest sitting down on his own bed. "Be grateful I am explaining this to you. I only saw that you very dearly lack knowledge that only I am able to provide-"

"Yes, Shin-chan. You're a tsundere and I get it. So could you explain already?" Takao asked, throwing his leg over the nearby chair, perching on it.

Midorima glared, pushing his glasses up. "If you're going to be rude, perhaps I should not explain-"

Takao waved his arms around, before bowing in a flourish. "Nonono! Please, oh wise one, impart your knowledge onto my humble self."

Eyes narrowing, Midorima attempted to figure out if that was polite or not, before jutting his nose in the air, leaving Takao to smother his giggles.

"Hmph, indeed. There have been only several special abilities recorded in the Priest Tomes, mostly categorised into the several body parts where the ability originates from, including, but not limited to, Eyes, Fingers, Ears or Full-body."

"Bodyparts?"

"Yes. For example, I have my own section in the Tomes, under 'Fingers'." Midorima answered, holding out his wrapped fingers for Takao to see.

Takao smiled, nodding to himself. "So that's why you wrapped it up all the time; I thought you were just being weird."

Midorima glared. "As I was saying, I have my own section called Sniper Shot. I can manipulate small droplets of aura and shoot them at people from a very long distances. The precision and accuracy of my manipulations cannot be replicated by anyone, and has thus been categorised as a special ability. It shows my mastery of aura manipulation to a level that no one has been able to imitate."

Takao nodded thoughtfully. "So if no one can copy it easily, it's considered a special ability."

Midorima nodded. "Indeed, or if only a few have a similar ability."

"So, doesn't that mean that everyone has a special ability?"

"No, it doesn't" Midorima frowned at him. "Not everyone will develop such skill, be it physical or in aura manipulation. Aomine has two of his own sections under 'Full-body', one of which is named Animal Instinct, which simply praises his speed and agility, namely his physical abilities. The other ability is called Zone, which not only him, but Kagami, Akashi, Murasakibara, Kise and perhaps others also have."

"So, not everyone has something special, and others might have the same ability." Takao concluded, leaning forward slightly.

Midorima scoffed. "Isn't that obvious?"

"Well yeah, now that you've pointed it out. Does this mean that all the higher-ranked priests and their familiars have their own sections?"

Midorima looked surprised, then slightly pleased that Takao had pointed it out. Seriously, he was not that stupid. There was no need to look surprised every time he noticed something.

"No, some of them have their own section, or sections, but not everyone has one. Many of those with higher ranks simply have high power levels and above-average skills. The Northern division is special in that sense, as most of the higher-ranked priests and familiars here, and even some of the lower-ranked priests have their own sections."

"Huh, why would the Northern division be special?" Takao asked.

"It's thanks to Akashi." Midorima sighed and pointed to his hair. "Do you see this hair colour? It is commonly thought that only those of mixed-blood would have hair colours different from the norm. We are usually born with special abilities, and a higher power level."

Takao blinked, then nodded. "I had known you were a mixed-blood."

Midorima nodded. "Most of the priests here, both higher and lower-ranked are of mixed-blood. We used to be evenly distributed across the divisions, but Akashi decided to invite all the known mixed-blood priests into the same compound, as most of us are his friends."

"What for?" Takao asked. "Does he want companionship that much?"

"It was more for our benefit, than his." Midorima murmured, before speaking louder. "Mixed-blooded priests are not actually very well received by 'pure' human priests, no matter what the propaganda claims. We dominated the higher-ranks, despite our incredibly low numbers as compared to 'pure' humans. Needless to say, discrimination and scorn ran rampant."

Midorima paused, then continued. "That was until Akashi took over as head of the Priest Council, and ruled that all priests may choose the division they wished to be posted to. Most of us followed him here, even though some of the previously higher-ranked priests had to take lower ranks due to shortage of higher ranks."

Takao paused, taking it in, before asking, "so, there are only mixed-blooded priests here?"

"There are 'pure's here, just not many. That's why this division has a shortage of manpower. Mixed-blood only account for around 5% of the priest population. Himuro is actually the only 'pure' higher-ranked human priests here."

"But there were at least half of the priests here with normal hair colours."

"I said that it was _commonly thought_ that mixed-blood have unique hair colours. There are some mixed-blood here and in other compounds with normal hair colours, and there are some 'pure's with unique hair colours."

Midorima huffed, pulling out a little of his aura. "In actual fact, the only way to identify a mixed-blood is through their aura. Those of mixed-blood have a golden tint instead of a silver tint to their aura. It's just that the majority of the priests and the rest of the world believe that a strange hair colour means a mixed-blood. We are not inclined to correct them. It didn't help when the higher ranks were dominated by people of unique hair colours."

"This is not common knowledge, so I suggest you do not spread it around." Midorima warned, eyes narrowed.

"I'm not going to spread it around!" Takao said, offended, waving his hands in front of him.

"I should hope not." Midorima sighed, before returning to topic. "But we have gone completely off-topic. We were talking about your power in your eyes."

"Oh, I almost forgot. My eyes' power, yes?"

"Yes, you said you could see through walls, see objects from far away very clearly, as well and take note of everything around you?" Midorima asked, glancing at Takao, who nodded.

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Well then, the only recorded abilities in the eyes that I can remember right now would be the the Emperor Eye and the Copycat. There were also the Hawkeyes and the Scan but I cannot remember their abilities as clearly." Midorima said, looking thoughtful.

In the meantime, Takao cringed when Midorima mentioned his ability. Did they include what they knew of his ability into their Priest Tomes? The only thing the Priest Council should know about his ability with the lack of blind spots it allowed, as well as the far range he could see. Nothing about the seeing through walls or spotting internal injuries.

Midorima simply continued. "The only ability I know of that can see through walls is the Emperor Eye."

"Huh…"

Midorima glanced at him, asking, "Are you able to see the future?"

"See the future?" Takao asked, flabbergasted. What is this magical ability?

"No, not to the extent you're definitely thinking of. Just several seconds into the future." Midorima scoffed as he took in Takao's shocked expression.

"No, definitely not." Takao answered. Nope, never seen the future, not even a few seconds.

Midorima nodded. "Then your ability is not the Emperor Eye."

There were several seconds of silence.

"Then, is my ability a new one?" Takao asked, looking up at Midorima, who seemed contemplative.

"That would be likely." Midorima answered, thinking for a few seconds before nodding to himself decisively.

Takao had a sudden ominous feeling. "What was that- Why did you nod to yourself like that-?"

"Would you consent to a few training sessions?" Midorima asked, glancing at the window. "I could help you understand and develop your ability."

There was a sudden sense of deja vu. "You want to teach me? Again?"

Midorima glared at the window. "I was only asking if you required help in discovering your eyes' potential. It would only prove beneficial for you, and rid you of your startling incompetence."

Takao sighed. The hot red tint on his cheeks was definitely his tsundere showing. Well, Midorima was certainly making things easy for him. Trust was just hopping right into the palm of his hand.

It spelled something fairly foreboding.

Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action. And this was definitely the third time Midorima has made his plan much easier to carry out.

Like the calm before the storm.

It made him slightly anxious.

"Well, if you're offering, I'll definitely accept!"

* * *

**Reviews are like cookies**

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**feel good,**

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